Mobile terminal and method of controlling the same

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure may provide a mobile terminal including a body having a front surface, a rear surface and a lateral surface thereof, a display unit disposed on the front surface to display first screen information, a lateral touch sensing unit formed on the lateral surface adjacent to both edges of the display unit to receive a user&#39;s consecutive touch input, and a controller configured to control the display unit to display second screen information in one region on the display unit corresponding to a touch range of the consecutive touch input.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), this application claims the benefit ofearlier filing date and right of priority to Korean Application Nos.10-2013-0139290, filed on Nov. 15, 2013, and 10-2014-0069547, filed onJun. 9, 2014, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a mobile terminal including a lateraltouch sensing unit configured to receive a touch input for displayingvisual information thereof.

Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a mobile terminalincluding a display unit configured to receive a touch input fordisplaying visual information thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Mobile terminal is a portable electronic device having at least one of avoice and video communication function, an information input and outputfunction, a data storage function, and the like.

As it becomes multifunctional, the mobile terminal can be allowed tocapture still images or moving images, play music or video files, playgames, receive broadcast and the like, so as to be implemented as anintegrated multimedia player.

For the design and functional modifications of the terminal, studies onmodifying or extending a structure to which a user's control command isapplied have been carried out. In recent years, structures in which adisplay area is extended on the mobile terminal have been developed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the technical task of the present disclosure is to proposea control method for applying a control command to a touch sensing unitformed on a lateral surface of a mobile terminal to control the mobileterminal.

In order to accomplish the foregoing task of the present disclosure,there is provided a mobile terminal, including a body having a frontsurface, a rear surface and a lateral surface thereof, a display unitdisposed on the front surface to display first screen information, alateral touch sensing unit formed on the lateral surface adjacent toboth edges of the display unit to receive a user's consecutive touchinputs, and a controller configured to control the display unit todisplay second screen information in one region on the display unitcorresponding to a touch range of the consecutive touch input.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thefirst and the second screen information may correspond to the executionscreens of a first and a second application which are distinguished fromeach other.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thefirst and the second application may be being executed, and have beensequentially activated.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thedisplay unit may display the first and the second screen information inseparate regions on the display unit, and the controller may control thefirst application or the second application based on a touch inputapplied to the first screen information or second screen information.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thecontroller may control the display unit to display an icon of arecommended application associated with the first screen informationwhen a first application is initially or finally activated among theapplications being executed.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thecontroller may electively displays screen information displayed in alarger region between the first and the second screen information on thedisplay unit when a touch input applied to the lateral touch sensingunit is released.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thefirst screen information may include at least one content, and thesecond screen information may be formed with visual informationassociated with content selected from the contents.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thecontroller may select content displayed in one region on the displayunit corresponding to the touch range among a plurality of contentscontained in the first screen information.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thevisual information may correspond to a menu image for receiving a touchinput to edit the content.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thevisual information may correspond to a menu image for receiving a touchinput to execute an application associated with the content.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thevisual information may correspond to lower information associated withthe content, and the controller may control the display unit to displaysome of the plurality of lower information in correspondence to thetouch range.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thefirst screen information may correspond to a home screen page containingat least one icon corresponding to an application, and the controllermay control the display unit to select at least one icon based on thetouch range, and display lower information associated with theapplication of the selected icon.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, thetouch sensing unit may include a display unit configured to display animage, and the controller may display a notification image in one regionof the touch sensing unit for receiving a touch input to display thesecond screen information.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, when thefirst screen information contains a plurality of contents, and thesecond screen information is visual information associated with onecontent, the notification image may be displayed in one region on thelateral touch sensing unit adjacent to the content.

In order to accomplish the foregoing task of the present disclosure,there is provided a method of controlling a mobile terminal according toanother embodiment disclosed in the present disclosure, and the methodmay include displaying first screen information on the display unit,sensing a consecutive touch input applied to a touch sensing unitconnected to both lateral surfaces of the display unit, and displayingsecond screen information in one region on the display unitcorresponding to a touch range due to the consecutive touch input.

According to an example associated with the present disclosure, themethod may further include storing a sequence in which a plurality ofapplications being executed are activated, wherein the second screeninformation corresponds to one of the execution screens of theapplications selected based on the sequence.

Still another technical task of the present disclosure is to propose acontrol method of applying a control command to a display unit formed ona lateral surface of a terminal to control a mobile terminal.

Yet still another technical task of the present disclosure is to displayscreen information having at least two or more display directions at thesame time on the display unit.

In order to accomplish the foregoing task of the present disclosure,there is provided a mobile terminal, including a body having a frontsurface and a lateral surface thereof, a display unit comprising a firstregion disposed on the front surface of the body and a second regionconnected to the first region and disposed on the lateral surface, and acontroller configured to display information associated with the screeninformation as screen information having a direction different from thedisplayed direction of the screen information in at least part of thefirst region when a preset type of touch is sensed on the second regionin a state that screen information associated with a function beingexecuted by the terminal is displayed in the first region, wherein thescreen information having the different direction is displayed in atleast part of the first region corresponding to the preset type of touchon the second region.

According to an embodiment, when the screen information have a firstdisplay direction, the screen information having the different directionmay be screen information to be displayed in the first region when thescreen information is displayed in a second display direction differentfrom the first display direction.

According to an embodiment, the controller may display a regioncontaining the same information as the screen information having thefirst display direction in a visually distinguished manner among thescreen information having the second display direction.

According to an embodiment, the controller may control the display unitto display the screen information having the first display directionalong with the screen information having the second display direction.

According to an embodiment, when a touch is applied to any one positionof a region displayed with the screen information having the seconddisplay direction, the controller may scroll the screen informationhaving the first display direction such that screen informationcorresponding to the any one position of the screen information havingthe first display direction moves to the center of the first region.

According to an embodiment, the second region may include a firstsub-region disposed on either one of both lateral surfaces of the bodyand a second sub-region disposed on the other lateral surface, and whentouches applied to the first and the second sub-region at the same timeare sensed, the controller may display information associated with thescreen information to have a different direction from the displaydirection of the screen information in a region corresponding to aregion of the first region to which the drag is applied.

According to an embodiment, when a touch with respect to at least tworegions is sensed on either one lateral surface of the second regionprovided on the both lateral surfaces, the controller may displayinformation having the different direction in a region corresponding toa region in which the touch is sensed.

According to an embodiment, the controller may determine a direction inwhich information associated with the screen information is displayedaccording to a direction to which the preset type of touch is applied.

According to an embodiment, the second region may include a firstsub-region disposed on either one of both lateral surfaces of the bodyand a second sub-region disposed on the other lateral surface, and thecontroller may determine a location at which information associated withthe screen information is displayed based on drag inputs being sensed indifferent directions with respect to the first and the secondsub-region, respectively.

According to an embodiment, screen information displayed in the firstregion may maintain its display location independently from informationassociated with the screen information being displayed in at least partof the first region.

According to an embodiment, the mobile terminal may further include atleast two camera units having different capture directions, wherein whena preset type of touch is sensed in the second region in a state that animage received from either one of the at least one camera units isdisplayed on the display unit, the controller activates a camera unithaving a different capture direction from that of the other one, anddisplays an image received from the camera unit having the differentcapture direction on at least part of the display unit.

According to an embodiment, at least two images received from the cameraunits having different capture directions from each other may bedisplayed at the same time on the display unit, and the controller maycapture either one of the at least two images having different capturedirections based on a user's request.

According to an embodiment, the controller may analyze screeninformation displayed in the first region, and determine at least partof the screen information displayed in a different direction from acurrent display direction when a preset type of touch is sensed in thesecond region.

According to an embodiment, the controller may no longer displayinformation associated with the screen information in response to atouch being applied in an opposite direction to that of the preset typeof touch in a state that the screen information having different displaydirections and information associated with the screen information aredisplayed at the same time in the first region.

A method of controlling a mobile terminal having a display unit on afront surface and a lateral surface thereof may include sensing a presettype of touch with respect to a second region disposed on the lateralsurface in a state that screen information associated with a functionbeing executed in a terminal is displayed in a first region disposed onthe front surface, and displaying information associated with screeninformation displayed in the first region to have a different directionfrom the displayed direction of the screen information in at least partof the first region in response to the preset type of touch, wherein thedisplay location of the information having the different direction isdetermined according to a direction to which a preset type of touch withrespect to the second region is applied.

According to an embodiment, the information to be displayed in adifferent direction may be displayed in a region corresponding to aregion of the first region to which the preset type of touch is applied.

According to an embodiment, when the screen information has a firstdisplay direction, the information having the different direction may beinformation to be displayed in the first region when the screeninformation is displayed in a second display direction different fromthe first display direction.

According to an embodiment, a region containing the same information asthe screen information having the first display direction among theinformation having the second display direction may be displayed in avisually distinguished manner from other information.

According to an embodiment, the screen information having the firstdisplay direction and the information having the second displaydirection may be displayed at the same time.

According to an embodiment, the information having the second displaydirection may be displayed to be overlapped with at least part of thescreen information displayed in the first display direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal associatedwith the present disclosure;

FIGS. 1B and 1C conceptual views in which an example of a mobileterminal associated with the present disclosure is seen from differentdirections;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are conceptual views illustrating a communication systemin which a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure isoperable;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are conceptual views illustrating a mobile terminalhaving a lateral display unit;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a control method of a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 5A(a) to 5D(c) are conceptual views for explaining a controlmethod of a mobile terminal according to various embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 6A(a) to 6B(c) are conceptual views for explaining a controlmethod of displaying additional information on one content selected froma plurality of contents contained in screen information;

FIGS. 7A(a) to 7C(c) are conceptual views for explaining a controlmethod of displaying lower information of the selected content;

FIGS. 8A to 8C are a conceptual view for explaining a control methodaccording to a touch scheme of a touch input applied to touch sensingunits at both sides thereof;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating a method of controlling both lateralsurface of the display unit according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 10A(a) to 10D(b) are conceptual views illustrating the controlmethod of FIG. 9;

FIGS. 11A(a) to 11C(c) are conceptual views for explaining arelationship between screen information associated with each other;

FIGS. 12A(a) to 12B(b) are conceptual views for explaining an embodimentof displaying screen information having a second display direction;

FIGS. 13A(a) to 13B(b) are conceptual views illustrating a method ofdetermining at least one of at least some of the display locations ofscreen information having the first and the second display direction;

FIGS. 14A(a) to 14D(b) are conceptual views illustrating a type ofscreen information having a second display direction;

FIGS. 15A(a) to 15B(c) are conceptual views illustrating a method ofdisplaying images received from cameras having different capturedirections; and

FIGS. 16A to 16B are a conceptual view illustrating that a specificregion of the screen information having a first display direction is setto screen information having a second display direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description will now be given in detail according to exemplaryembodiments disclosed herein, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to thedrawings, the same or equivalent components may be provided with thesame or similar reference numbers, and description thereof will not berepeated. In general, a suffix such as “module” and “unit” may be usedto refer to elements or components. Use of such a suffix herein ismerely intended to facilitate description of the specification, and thesuffix itself is not intended to give any special meaning or function.In the present disclosure, that which is well-known to one of ordinaryskill in the relevant art has generally been omitted for the sake ofbrevity. The accompanying drawings are used to help easily understandvarious technical features and it should be understood that theembodiments presented herein are not limited by the accompanyingdrawings. As such, the present disclosure should be construed to extendto any alterations, equivalents and substitutes in addition to thosewhich are particularly set out in the accompanying drawings.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may beused herein to describe various elements, these elements should not belimited by these terms. These terms are generally only used todistinguish one element from another.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected with” another element, the element can be connected with theother element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly connected with”another element, there are no intervening elements present.

A singular representation may include a plural representation unless itrepresents a definitely different meaning from the context. Terms suchas “include” or “has” are used herein and should be understood that theyare intended to indicate an existence of several components, functionsor steps, disclosed in the specification, and it is also understood thatgreater or fewer components, functions, or steps may likewise beutilized.

Mobile terminals presented herein may be implemented using a variety ofdifferent types of terminals. Examples of such terminals includecellular phones, smart phones, user equipment, laptop computers, digitalbroadcast terminals, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portablemultimedia players (PMPs), navigators, portable computers (PCs), slatePCs, tablet PCs, ultra books, wearable devices (for example, smartwatches, smart glasses, head mounted displays (HMDs)), and the like.

By way of non-limiting example only, further description will be madewith reference to particular types of mobile terminals. However, suchteachings apply equally to other types of terminals, such as those typesnoted above. In addition, these teachings may also be applied tostationary terminals such as digital TV, desktop computers, and thelike.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 1A-1C, where FIG. 1A is a block diagramof a mobile terminal in accordance with the present disclosure, andFIGS. 1B and 1C are conceptual views of one example of the mobileterminal, viewed from different directions.

The mobile terminal 100 is shown having components such as a wirelesscommunication unit 110, an input unit 120, a sensing unit 140, an outputunit 150, an interface unit 160, a memory 170, a controller 180, and apower supply unit 190. It is understood that implementing all of theillustrated components is not a requirement, and that greater or fewercomponents may alternatively be implemented.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, the mobile terminal 100 is shown havingwireless communication unit 110 configured with several commonlyimplemented components. For instance, the wireless communication unit110 typically includes one or more components which permit wirelesscommunication between the mobile terminal 100 and a wirelesscommunication system or network within which the mobile terminal islocated.

The wireless communication unit 110 typically includes one or moremodules which permit communications such as wireless communicationsbetween the mobile terminal 100 and a wireless communication system,communications between the mobile terminal 100 and another mobileterminal, communications between the mobile terminal 100 and an externalserver. Further, the wireless communication unit 110 typically includesone or more modules which connect the mobile terminal 100 to one or morenetworks. To facilitate such communications, the wireless communicationunit 110 includes one or more of a broadcast receiving module 111, amobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, ashort-range communication module 114, and a location information module115.

The input unit 120 includes a camera 121 for obtaining images or video,a microphone 122, which is one type of audio input device for inputtingan audio signal, and a user input unit 123 (for example, a touch key, apush key, a mechanical key, a soft key, and the like) for allowing auser to input information. Data (for example, audio, video, image, andthe like) is obtained by the input unit 120 and may be analyzed andprocessed by controller 180 according to device parameters, usercommands, and combinations thereof.

The sensing unit 140 is typically implemented using one or more sensorsconfigured to sense internal information of the mobile terminal, thesurrounding environment of the mobile terminal, user information, andthe like. For example, in FIG. 1A, the sensing unit 140 is shown havinga proximity sensor 141 and an illumination sensor 142.

If desired, the sensing unit 140 may alternatively or additionallyinclude other types of sensors or devices, such as a touch sensor, anacceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor, a G-sensor, a gyroscope sensor,a motion sensor, an RGB sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a finger scansensor, a ultrasonic sensor, an optical sensor (for example, camera121), a microphone 122, a battery gauge, an environment sensor (forexample, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, a radiation detectionsensor, a thermal sensor, and a gas sensor, among others), and achemical sensor (for example, an electronic nose, a health care sensor,a biometric sensor, and the like), to name a few. The mobile terminal100 may be configured to utilize information obtained from sensing unit140, and in particular, information obtained from one or more sensors ofthe sensing unit 140, and combinations thereof.

The output unit 150 is typically configured to output various types ofinformation, such as audio, video, tactile output, and the like. Theoutput unit 150 is shown having a display unit 151, an audio outputmodule 152, a haptic module 153, and an optical output module 154.

The display unit 151 may have an inter-layered structure or anintegrated structure with a touch sensor in order to facilitate a touchscreen. The touch screen may provide an output interface between themobile terminal 100 and a user, as well as function as the user inputunit 123 which provides an input interface between the mobile terminal100 and the user.

The interface unit 160 serves as an interface with various types ofexternal devices that can be coupled to the mobile terminal 100. Theinterface unit 160, for example, may include any of wired or wirelessports, external power supply ports, wired or wireless data ports, memorycard ports, ports for connecting a device having an identificationmodule, audio input/output (I/O) ports, video I/O ports, earphone ports,and the like. In some cases, the mobile terminal 100 may performassorted control functions associated with a connected external device,in response to the external device being connected to the interface unit160.

The memory 170 is typically implemented to store data to support variousfunctions or features of the mobile terminal 100. For instance, thememory 170 may be configured to store application programs executed inthe mobile terminal 100, data or instructions for operations of themobile terminal 100, and the like. Some of these application programsmay be downloaded from an external server via wireless communication.Other application programs may be installed within the mobile terminal100 at time of manufacturing or shipping, which is typically the casefor basic functions of the mobile terminal 100 (for example, receiving acall, placing a call, receiving a message, sending a message, and thelike). It is common for application programs to be stored in the memory170, installed in the mobile terminal 100, and executed by thecontroller 180 to perform an operation (or function) for the mobileterminal 100.

The controller 180 typically functions to control overall operation ofthe mobile terminal 100, in addition to the operations associated withthe application programs. The controller 180 may provide or processinformation or functions appropriate for a user by processing signals,data, information and the like, which are input or output by the variouscomponents depicted in FIG. 1A, or activating application programsstored in the memory 170. As one example, the controller 180 controlssome or all of the components illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1C according tothe execution of an application program that have been stored in thememory 170.

The power supply unit 190 can be configured to receive external power orprovide internal power in order to supply appropriate power required foroperating elements and components included in the mobile terminal 100.The power supply unit 190 may include a battery, and the battery may beconfigured to be embedded in the terminal body, or configured to bedetachable from the terminal body.

Referring still to FIG. 1A, various components depicted in this figurewill now be described in more detail. Regarding the wirelesscommunication unit 110, the broadcast receiving module 111 is typicallyconfigured to receive a broadcast signal and/or broadcast associatedinformation from an external broadcast managing entity via a broadcastchannel. The broadcast channel may include a satellite channel, aterrestrial channel, or both. In some embodiments, two or more broadcastreceiving modules 111 may be utilized to facilitate simultaneouslyreceiving of two or more broadcast channels, or to support switchingamong broadcast channels.

The mobile communication module 112 can transmit and/or receive wirelesssignals to and from one or more network entities. Typical examples of anetwork entity include a base station, an external mobile terminal, aserver, and the like. Such network entities form part of a mobilecommunication network, which is constructed according to technicalstandards or communication methods for mobile communications (forexample, Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code DivisionMulti Access (CDMA), CDMA2000(Code Division Multi Access 2000), EV-DO(Enhanced Voice-Data Optimized or Enhanced Voice-Data Only), WidebandCDMA (WCDMA), High Speed Downlink Packet access (HSDPA), HSUPA (HighSpeed Uplink Packet Access), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-A (Long TermEvolution-Advanced), and the like). Examples of wireless signalstransmitted and/or received via the mobile communication module 112include audio call signals, video (telephony) call signals, or variousformats of data to support communication of text and multimediamessages.

The wireless Internet module 113 is configured to facilitate wirelessInternet access. This module may be internally or externally coupled tothe mobile terminal 100. The wireless Internet module 113 may transmitand/or receive wireless signals via communication networks according towireless Internet technologies.

Examples of such wireless Internet access include Wireless LAN (WLAN),Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, Digital Living Network Alliance(DLNA), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access), Long Term Evolution (LTE),LTE-A (Long Term Evolution-Advanced), and the like. The wirelessInternet module 113 may transmit/receive data according to one or moreof such wireless Internet technologies, and other Internet technologiesas well.

In some embodiments, when the wireless Internet access is implementedaccording to, for example, WiBro, HSDPA, HSUPA, GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE,LTE-A and the like, as part of a mobile communication network, thewireless Internet module 113 performs such wireless Internet access. Assuch, the Internet module 113 may cooperate with, or function as, themobile communication module 112.

The short-range communication module 114 is configured to facilitateshort-range communications. Suitable technologies for implementing suchshort-range communications include BLUETOOTH™, Radio FrequencyIDentification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), Ultra-WideBand(UWB), ZigBee, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wireless-Fidelity(Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, Wireless USB (Wireless Universal Serial Bus), andthe like. The short-range communication module 114 in general supportswireless communications between the mobile terminal 100 and a wirelesscommunication system, communications between the mobile terminal 100 andanother mobile terminal 100, or communications between the mobileterminal and a network where another mobile terminal 100 (or an externalserver) is located, via wireless area networks. One example of thewireless area networks is a wireless personal area networks.

In some embodiments, another mobile terminal (which may be configuredsimilarly to mobile terminal 100) may be a wearable device, for example,a smart watch, a smart glass or a head mounted display (HMD), which isable to exchange data with the mobile terminal 100 (or otherwisecooperate with the mobile terminal 100). The short-range communicationmodule 114 may sense or recognize the wearable device, and permitcommunication between the wearable device and the mobile terminal 100.In addition, when the sensed wearable device is a device which isauthenticated to communicate with the mobile terminal 100, thecontroller 180, for example, may cause transmission of data processed inthe mobile terminal 100 to the wearable device via the short-rangecommunication module 114. Hence, a user of the wearable device may usethe data processed in the mobile terminal 100 on the wearable device.For example, when a call is received in the mobile terminal 100, theuser may answer the call using the wearable device. Also, when a messageis received in the mobile terminal 100, the user can check the receivedmessage using the wearable device.

The location information module 115 is generally configured to detect,calculate, derive or otherwise identify a position of the mobileterminal. As an example, the location information module 115 includes aGlobal Position System (GPS) module, a Wi-Fi module, or both. Ifdesired, the location information module 115 may alternatively oradditionally function with any of the other modules of the wirelesscommunication unit 110 to obtain data related to the position of themobile terminal.

As one example, when the mobile terminal uses a GPS module, a positionof the mobile terminal may be acquired using a signal sent from a GPSsatellite. As another example, when the mobile terminal uses the Wi-Fimodule, a position of the mobile terminal can be acquired based oninformation related to a wireless access point (AP) which transmits orreceives a wireless signal to or from the Wi-Fi module.

The input unit 120 may be configured to permit various types of input tothe mobile terminal 120. Examples of such input include audio, image,video, data, and user input. Image and video input is often obtainedusing one or more cameras 121. Such cameras 121 may process image framesof still pictures or video obtained by image sensors in a video or imagecapture mode. The processed image frames can be displayed on the displayunit 151 or stored in memory 170. In some cases, the cameras 121 may bearranged in a matrix configuration to permit a plurality of imageshaving various angles or focal points to be input to the mobile terminal100. As another example, the cameras 121 may be located in astereoscopic arrangement to acquire left and right images forimplementing a stereoscopic image.

The microphone 122 is generally implemented to permit audio input to themobile terminal 100. The audio input can be processed in various mannersaccording to a function being executed in the mobile terminal 100. Ifdesired, the microphone 122 may include assorted noise removingalgorithms to remove unwanted noise generated in the course of receivingthe external audio.

The user input unit 123 is a component that permits input by a user.Such user input may enable the controller 180 to control operation ofthe mobile terminal 100. The user input unit 123 may include one or moreof a mechanical input element (for example, a key, a button located on afront and/or rear surface or a side surface of the mobile terminal 100,a dome switch, a jog wheel, a jog switch, and the like), or atouch-sensitive input, among others. As one example, the touch-sensitiveinput may be a virtual key or a soft key, which is displayed on a touchscreen through software processing, or a touch key which is located onthe mobile terminal at a location that is other than the touch screen.On the other hand, the virtual key or the visual key may be displayed onthe touch screen in various shapes, for example, graphic, text, icon,video, or a combination thereof.

The sensing unit 140 is generally configured to sense one or more ofinternal information of the mobile terminal, surrounding environmentinformation of the mobile terminal, user information, or the like. Thecontroller 180 generally cooperates with the sending unit 140 to controloperation of the mobile terminal 100 or execute data processing, afunction or an operation associated with an application programinstalled in the mobile terminal based on the sensing provided by thesensing unit 140. The sensing unit 140 may be implemented using any of avariety of sensors, some of which will now be described in more detail.

The proximity sensor 141 may include a sensor to sense presence orabsence of an object approaching a surface, or an object located near asurface, by using an electromagnetic field, infrared rays, or the likewithout a mechanical contact. The proximity sensor 141 may be arrangedat an inner region of the mobile terminal covered by the touch screen,or near the touch screen.

The proximity sensor 141, for example, may include any of a transmissivetype photoelectric sensor, a direct reflective type photoelectricsensor, a mirror reflective type photoelectric sensor, a high-frequencyoscillation proximity sensor, a capacitance type proximity sensor, amagnetic type proximity sensor, an infrared rays proximity sensor, andthe like. When the touch screen is implemented as a capacitance type,the proximity sensor 141 can sense proximity of a pointer relative tothe touch screen by changes of an electromagnetic field, which isresponsive to an approach of an object with conductivity. In this case,the touch screen (touch sensor) may also be categorized as a proximitysensor.

The term “proximity touch” will often be referred to herein to denotethe scenario in which a pointer is positioned to be proximate to thetouch screen without contacting the touch screen. The term “contacttouch” will often be referred to herein to denote the scenario in whicha pointer makes physical contact with the touch screen. For the positioncorresponding to the proximity touch of the pointer relative to thetouch screen, such position will correspond to a position where thepointer is perpendicular to the touch screen. The proximity sensor 141may sense proximity touch, and proximity touch patterns (for example,distance, direction, speed, time, position, moving status, and thelike).

In general, controller 180 processes data corresponding to proximitytouches and proximity touch patterns sensed by the proximity sensor 141,and cause output of visual information on the touch screen. In addition,the controller 180 can control the mobile terminal 100 to executedifferent operations or process different data according to whether atouch with respect to a point on the touch screen is either a proximitytouch or a contact touch.

A touch sensor can sense a touch applied to the touch screen, such asdisplay unit 151, using any of a variety of touch methods. Examples ofsuch touch methods include a resistive type, a capacitive type, aninfrared type, and a magnetic field type, among others.

As one example, the touch sensor may be configured to convert changes ofpressure applied to a specific part of the display unit 151, or convertcapacitance occurring at a specific part of the display unit 151, intoelectric input signals. The touch sensor may also be configured to sensenot only a touched position and a touched area, but also touch pressureand/or touch capacitance. A touch object is generally used to apply atouch input to the touch sensor. Examples of typical touch objectsinclude a finger, a touch pen, a stylus pen, a pointer, or the like.

When a touch input is sensed by a touch sensor, corresponding signalsmay be transmitted to a touch controller. The touch controller mayprocess the received signals, and then transmit corresponding data tothe controller 180. Accordingly, the controller 180 may sense whichregion of the display unit 151 has been touched. Here, the touchcontroller may be a component separate from the controller 180, thecontroller 180, and combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, the controller 180 may execute the same ordifferent controls according to a type of touch object that touches thetouch screen or a touch key provided in addition to the touch screen.Whether to execute the same or different control according to the objectwhich provides a touch input may be decided based on a current operatingstate of the mobile terminal 100 or a currently executed applicationprogram, for example.

The touch sensor and the proximity sensor may be implementedindividually, or in combination, to sense various types of touches. Suchtouches includes a short (or tap) touch, a long touch, a multi-touch, adrag touch, a flick touch, a pinch-in touch, a pinch-out touch, a swipetouch, a hovering touch, and the like.

If desired, an ultrasonic sensor may be implemented to recognizeposition information relating to a touch object using ultrasonic waves.The controller 180, for example, may calculate a position of a wavegeneration source based on information sensed by an illumination sensorand a plurality of ultrasonic sensors. Since light is much faster thanultrasonic waves, the time for which the light reaches the opticalsensor is much shorter than the time for which the ultrasonic wavereaches the ultrasonic sensor. The position of the wave generationsource may be calculated using this fact. For instance, the position ofthe wave generation source may be calculated using the time differencefrom the time that the ultrasonic wave reaches the sensor based on thelight as a reference signal.

The camera 121 typically includes at least one a camera sensor (CCD,CMOS etc.), a photo sensor (or image sensors), and a laser sensor.

Implementing the camera 121 with a laser sensor may allow detection of atouch of a physical object with respect to a 3D stereoscopic image. Thephoto sensor may be laminated on, or overlapped with, the displaydevice. The photo sensor may be configured to scan movement of thephysical object in proximity to the touch screen. In more detail, thephoto sensor may include photo diodes and transistors at rows andcolumns to scan content received at the photo sensor using an electricalsignal which changes according to the quantity of applied light. Namely,the photo sensor may calculate the coordinates of the physical objectaccording to variation of light to thus obtain position information ofthe physical object.

The display unit 151 is generally configured to output informationprocessed in the mobile terminal 100. For example, the display unit 151may display execution screen information of an application programexecuting at the mobile terminal 100 or user interface (UI) and graphicuser interface (GUI) information in response to the execution screeninformation.

In some embodiments, the display unit 151 may be implemented as astereoscopic display unit for displaying stereoscopic images. A typicalstereoscopic display unit may employ a stereoscopic display scheme suchas a stereoscopic scheme (a glass scheme), an auto-stereoscopic scheme(glassless scheme), a projection scheme (holographic scheme), or thelike.

The audio output module 152 is generally configured to output audiodata. Such audio data may be obtained from any of a number of differentsources, such that the audio data may be received from the wirelesscommunication unit 110 or may have been stored in the memory 170. Theaudio data may be output during modes such as a signal reception mode, acall mode, a record mode, a voice recognition mode, a broadcastreception mode, and the like. The audio output module 152 can provideaudible output related to a particular function (e.g., a call signalreception sound, a message reception sound, etc.) performed by themobile terminal 100. The audio output module 152 may also be implementedas a receiver, a speaker, a buzzer, or the like.

A haptic module 153 can be configured to generate various tactileeffects that a user feels, perceive, or otherwise experience. A typicalexample of a tactile effect generated by the haptic module 153 isvibration. The strength, pattern and the like of the vibration generatedby the haptic module 153 can be controlled by user selection or settingby the controller. For example, the haptic module 153 may outputdifferent vibrations in a combining manner or a sequential manner.

Besides vibration, the haptic module 153 can generate various othertactile effects, including an effect by stimulation such as a pinarrangement vertically moving to contact skin, a spray force or suctionforce of air through a jet orifice or a suction opening, a touch to theskin, a contact of an electrode, electrostatic force, an effect byreproducing the sense of cold and warmth using an element that canabsorb or generate heat, and the like.

The haptic module 153 can also be implemented to allow the user to feela tactile effect through a muscle sensation such as the user's fingersor arm, as well as transferring the tactile effect through directcontact. Two or more haptic modules 153 may be provided according to theparticular configuration of the mobile terminal 100.

An optical output module 154 can output a signal for indicating an eventgeneration using light of a light source. Examples of events generatedin the mobile terminal 100 may include message reception, call signalreception, a missed call, an alarm, a schedule notice, an emailreception, information reception through an application, and the like.

A signal output by the optical output module 154 may be implemented insuch a manner that the mobile terminal emits monochromatic light orlight with a plurality of colors. The signal output may be terminated asthe mobile terminal senses that a user has checked the generated event,for example.

The interface unit 160 serves as an interface for external devices to beconnected with the mobile terminal 100. For example, the interface unit160 can receive data transmitted from an external device, receive powerto transfer to elements and components within the mobile terminal 100,or transmit internal data of the mobile terminal 100 to such externaldevice. The interface unit 160 may include wired or wireless headsetports, external power supply ports, wired or wireless data ports, memorycard ports, ports for connecting a device having an identificationmodule, audio input/output (I/O) ports, video I/O ports, earphone ports,or the like.

The identification module may be a chip that stores various informationfor authenticating authority of using the mobile terminal 100 and mayinclude a user identity module (UIM), a subscriber identity module(SIM), a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), and the like. Inaddition, the device having the identification module (also referred toherein as an “identifying device”) may take the form of a smart card.Accordingly, the identifying device can be connected with the terminal100 via the interface unit 160.

When the mobile terminal 100 is connected with an external cradle, theinterface unit 160 can serve as a passage to allow power from the cradleto be supplied to the mobile terminal 100 or may serve as a passage toallow various command signals input by the user from the cradle to betransferred to the mobile terminal there through. Various commandsignals or power input from the cradle may operate as signals forrecognizing that the mobile terminal is properly mounted on the cradle.

The memory 170 can store programs to support operations of thecontroller 180 and store input/output data (for example, phonebook,messages, still images, videos, etc.). The memory 170 may store datarelated to various patterns of vibrations and audio which are output inresponse to touch inputs on the touch screen.

The memory 170 may include one or more types of storage mediumsincluding a Flash memory, a hard disk, a solid state disk, a silicondisk, a multimedia card micro type, a card-type memory (e.g., SD or DXmemory, etc), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Static Random AccessMemory (SRAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), an Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a Programmable Read-Only memory(PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and thelike. The mobile terminal 100 may also be operated in relation to anetwork storage device that performs the storage function of the memory170 over a network, such as the Internet.

The controller 180 may typically control the general operations of themobile terminal 100. For example, the controller 180 may set or releasea lock state for restricting a user from inputting a control commandwith respect to applications when a status of the mobile terminal meetsa preset condition.

The controller 180 can also perform the controlling and processingassociated with voice calls, data communications, video calls, and thelike, or perform pattern recognition processing to recognize ahandwriting input or a picture drawing input performed on the touchscreen as characters or images, respectively. In addition, thecontroller 180 can control one or a combination of those components inorder to implement various exemplary embodiments disclosed herein.

The power supply unit 190 receives external power or provide internalpower and supply the appropriate power required for operating respectiveelements and components included in the mobile terminal 100. The powersupply unit 190 may include a battery, which is typically rechargeableor be detachably coupled to the terminal body for charging.

The power supply unit 190 may include a connection port. The connectionport may be configured as one example of the interface unit 160 to whichan external charger for supplying power to recharge the battery iselectrically connected.

As another example, the power supply unit 190 may be configured torecharge the battery in a wireless manner without use of the connectionport. In this example, the power supply unit 190 can receive power,transferred from an external wireless power transmitter, using at leastone of an inductive coupling method which is based on magnetic inductionor a magnetic resonance coupling method which is based onelectromagnetic resonance.

Various embodiments described herein may be implemented in acomputer-readable medium, a machine-readable medium, or similar mediumusing, for example, software, hardware, or any combination thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 1B and 1C, the mobile terminal 100 is describedwith reference to a bar-type terminal body. However, the mobile terminal100 may alternatively be implemented in any of a variety of differentconfigurations. Examples of such configurations include watch-type,clip-type, glasses-type, or as a folder-type, flip-type, slide-type,swing-type, and swivel-type in which two and more bodies are combinedwith each other in a relatively movable manner, and combinationsthereof. Discussion herein will often relate to a particular type ofmobile terminal (for example, bar-type, watch-type, glasses-type, andthe like). However, such teachings with regard to a particular type ofmobile terminal will generally apply to other types of mobile terminalsas well.

The mobile terminal 100 will generally include a case (for example,frame, housing, cover, and the like) forming the appearance of theterminal. In this embodiment, the case is formed using a front case 101and a rear case 102. Various electronic components are incorporated intoa space formed between the front case 101 and the rear case 102. Atleast one middle case may be additionally positioned between the frontcase 101 and the rear case 102.

The display unit 151 is shown located on the front side of the terminalbody to output information. As illustrated, a window 151 a of thedisplay unit 151 may be mounted to the front case 101 to form the frontsurface of the terminal body together with the front case 101.

In some embodiments, electronic components may also be mounted to therear case 102. Examples of such electronic components include adetachable battery 191, an identification module, a memory card, and thelike. Rear cover 103 is shown covering the electronic components, andthis cover may be detachably coupled to the rear case 102. Therefore,when the rear cover 103 is detached from the rear case 102, theelectronic components mounted to the rear case 102 are externallyexposed.

As illustrated, when the rear cover 103 is coupled to the rear case 102,a side surface of the rear case 102 is partially exposed. In some cases,upon the coupling, the rear case 102 may also be completely shielded bythe rear cover 103. In some embodiments, the rear cover 103 may includean opening for externally exposing a camera 121 b or an audio outputmodule 152 b.

The cases 101, 102, 103 may be formed by injection-molding syntheticresin or may be formed of a metal, for example, stainless steel (STS),aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), or the like.

As an alternative to the example in which the plurality of cases form aninner space for accommodating components, the mobile terminal 100 may beconfigured such that one case forms the inner space. In this example, amobile terminal 100 having a uni-body is formed in such a manner thatsynthetic resin or metal extends from a side surface to a rear surface.

If desired, the mobile terminal 100 may include a waterproofing unit(not shown) for preventing introduction of water into the terminal body.For example, the waterproofing unit may include a waterproofing memberwhich is located between the window 151 a and the front case 101,between the front case 101 and the rear case 102, or between the rearcase 102 and the rear cover 103, to hermetically seal an inner spacewhen those cases are coupled.

FIGS. 1B and 1C depict certain components as arranged on the mobileterminal. However, it is to be understood that alternative arrangementsare possible and within the teachings of the instant disclosure. Somecomponents may be omitted or rearranged. For example, the firstmanipulation unit 123 a may be located on another surface of theterminal body, and the second audio output module 152 b may be locatedon the side surface of the terminal body.

The display unit 151 outputs information processed in the mobileterminal 100. The display unit 151 may be implemented using one or moresuitable display devices. Examples of such suitable display devicesinclude a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquidcrystal display (TFT-LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), aflexible display, a 3-dimensional (3D) display, an e-ink display, andcombinations thereof.

The display unit 151 may be implemented using two display devices, whichcan implement the same or different display technology. For instance, aplurality of the display units 151 may be arranged on one side, eitherspaced apart from each other, or these devices may be integrated, orthese devices may be arranged on different surfaces.

The display unit 151 may also include a touch sensor which senses atouch input received at the display unit. When a touch is input to thedisplay unit 151, the touch sensor may be configured to sense this touchand the controller 180, for example, may generate a control command orother signal corresponding to the touch. The content which is input inthe touching manner may be a text or numerical value, or a menu itemwhich can be indicated or designated in various modes.

The touch sensor may be configured in a form of a film having a touchpattern, disposed between the window 151 a and a display on a rearsurface of the window 151 a, or a metal wire which is patterned directlyon the rear surface of the window 151 a. Alternatively, the touch sensormay be integrally formed with the display. For example, the touch sensormay be disposed on a substrate of the display or within the display.

The display unit 151 may also form a touch screen together with thetouch sensor. Here, the touch screen may serve as the user input unit123 (see FIG. 1A). Therefore, the touch screen may replace at least someof the functions of the first manipulation unit 123 a.

The first audio output module 152 a may be implemented in the form of aspeaker to output voice audio, alarm sounds, multimedia audioreproduction, and the like.

The window 151 a of the display unit 151 will typically include anaperture to permit audio generated by the first audio output module 152a to pass. One alternative is to allow audio to be released along anassembly gap between the structural bodies (for example, a gap betweenthe window 151 a and the front case 101). In this case, a holeindependently formed to output audio sounds may not be seen or isotherwise hidden in terms of appearance, thereby further simplifying theappearance and manufacturing of the mobile terminal 100.

The optical output module 154 can be configured to output light forindicating an event generation. Examples of such events include amessage reception, a call signal reception, a missed call, an alarm, aschedule notice, an email reception, information reception through anapplication, and the like. When a user has checked a generated event,the controller can control the optical output unit 154 to stop the lightoutput.

The first camera 121 a can process image frames such as still or movingimages obtained by the image sensor in a capture mode or a video callmode. The processed image frames can then be displayed on the displayunit 151 or stored in the memory 170.

The first and second manipulation units 123 a and 123 b are examples ofthe user input unit 123, which may be manipulated by a user to provideinput to the mobile terminal 100. The first and second manipulationunits 123 a and 123 b may also be commonly referred to as a manipulatingportion, and may employ any tactile method that allows the user toperform manipulation such as touch, push, scroll, or the like. The firstand second manipulation units 123 a and 123 b may also employ anynon-tactile method that allows the user to perform manipulation such asproximity touch, hovering, or the like.

FIG. 1B illustrates the first manipulation unit 123 a as a touch key,but possible alternatives include a mechanical key, a push key, a touchkey, and combinations thereof.

Input received at the first and second manipulation units 123 a and 123b may be used in various ways. For example, the first manipulation unit123 a may be used by the user to provide an input to a menu, home key,cancel, search, or the like, and the second manipulation unit 123 b maybe used by the user to provide an input to control a volume level beingoutput from the first or second audio output modules 152 a or 152 b, toswitch to a touch recognition mode of the display unit 151, or the like.

As another example of the user input unit 123, a rear input unit (notshown) may be located on the rear surface of the terminal body. The rearinput unit can be manipulated by a user to provide input to the mobileterminal 100. The input may be used in a variety of different ways. Forexample, the rear input unit may be used by the user to provide an inputfor power on/off, start, end, scroll, control volume level being outputfrom the first or second audio output modules 152 a or 152 b, switch toa touch recognition mode of the display unit 151, and the like. The rearinput unit may be configured to permit touch input, a push input, orcombinations thereof.

The rear input unit may be located to overlap the display unit 151 ofthe front side in a thickness direction of the terminal body. As oneexample, the rear input unit may be located on an upper end portion ofthe rear side of the terminal body such that a user can easilymanipulate it using a forefinger when the user grabs the terminal bodywith one hand. Alternatively, the rear input unit can be positioned atmost any location of the rear side of the terminal body.

Embodiments that include the rear input unit may implement some or allof the functionality of the first manipulation unit 123 a in the rearinput unit. As such, in situations where the first manipulation unit 123a is omitted from the front side, the display unit 151 can have a largerscreen.

As a further alternative, the mobile terminal 100 may include a fingerscan sensor which scans a user's fingerprint. The controller 180 canthen use fingerprint information sensed by the finger scan sensor aspart of an authentication procedure. The finger scan sensor may also beinstalled in the display unit 151 or implemented in the user input unit123.

The microphone 122 is shown located at an end of the mobile terminal100, but other locations are possible. If desired, multiple microphonesmay be implemented, with such an arrangement permitting the receiving ofstereo sounds.

The interface unit 160 may serve as a path allowing the mobile terminal100 to interface with external devices. For example, the interface unit160 may include one or more of a connection terminal for connecting toanother device (for example, an earphone, an external speaker, or thelike), a port for near field communication (for example, an InfraredData Association (IrDA) port, a Bluetooth port, a wireless LAN port, andthe like), or a power supply terminal for supplying power to the mobileterminal 100. The interface unit 160 may be implemented in the form of asocket for accommodating an external card, such as SubscriberIdentification Module (SIM), User Identity Module (UIM), or a memorycard for information storage.

The second camera 121 b is shown located at the rear side of theterminal body and includes an image capturing direction that issubstantially opposite to the image capturing direction of the firstcamera unit 121 a. If desired, second camera 121 a may alternatively belocated at other locations, or made to be moveable, in order to have adifferent image capturing direction from that which is shown.

The second camera 121 b can include a plurality of lenses arranged alongat least one line. The plurality of lenses may also be arranged in amatrix configuration. The cameras may be referred to as an “arraycamera.” When the second camera 121 b is implemented as an array camera,images may be captured in various manners using the plurality of lensesand images with better qualities.

As shown in FIG. 1C, a flash 124 is shown adjacent to the second camera121 b. When an image of a subject is captured with the camera 121 b, theflash 124 may illuminate the subject.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the second audio output module 152 b can be locatedon the terminal body. The second audio output module 152 b may implementstereophonic sound functions in conjunction with the first audio outputmodule 152 a, and may be also used for implementing a speaker phone modefor call communication.

At least one antenna for wireless communication may be located on theterminal body. The antenna may be installed in the terminal body orformed by the case. For example, an antenna which configures a part ofthe broadcast receiving module 111 may be retractable into the terminalbody. Alternatively, an antenna may be formed using a film attached toan inner surface of the rear cover 103, or a case that includes aconductive material.

A power supply unit 190 for supplying power to the mobile terminal 100may include a battery 191, which is mounted in the terminal body ordetachably coupled to an outside of the terminal body. The battery 191may receive power via a power source cable connected to the interfaceunit 160. Also, the battery 191 can be recharged in a wireless mannerusing a wireless charger. Wireless charging may be implemented bymagnetic induction or electromagnetic resonance.

The rear cover 103 is shown coupled to the rear case 102 for shieldingthe battery 191, to prevent separation of the battery 191, and toprotect the battery 191 from an external impact or from foreignmaterial. When the battery 191 is detachable from the terminal body, therear case 103 may be detachably coupled to the rear case 102.

An accessory for protecting an appearance or assisting or extending thefunctions of the mobile terminal 100 can also be provided on the mobileterminal 100. As one example of an accessory, a cover or pouch forcovering or accommodating at least one surface of the mobile terminal100 may be provided. The cover or pouch may cooperate with the displayunit 151 to extend the function of the mobile terminal 100. Anotherexample of the accessory is a touch pen for assisting or extending atouch input to a touch screen.

Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience of explanation, the descriptiondisclosed herein will be limited to CDMA. However, it is apparent thatthe present invention may be also applicable to all communicationsystems including a CDMA wireless communication system.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, a CDMA wireless communication system mayinclude a plurality of terminals 100, a plurality of base stations (BSs)270, a plurality of base station controllers (BSCs) 275, and a mobileswitching center (MSC) 280. The MSC 280 may interface with a PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN) 290, and the MSC 280 may alsointerface with the BSCs 275. The BSCs 275 may be connected to the BSs270 via backhaul lines. The backhaul lines may be configured inaccordance with at least any one of E1/T1, ATM, IP, PPP, Frame Relay,HDSL, ADSL, or xDSL, for example. Further, the system illustrated inFIG. 2A may include a plurality of BSCs 275.

Each of the plurality of BSs 270 may include at least one sector, eachsector having an omni-directional antenna or an antenna indicating aparticular radial direction from the base station 270. Alternatively,each sector may include two or more antennas with various forms. Each ofthe BSs 270 may be configured to support a plurality of frequencyassignments, each frequency assignment having a particular spectrum (forexample, 1.25 MHz, 5 MHz, etc.).

The intersection of a sector and frequency assignment may be referred toas a CDMA channel. The BSs 270 may also be referred to as Base StationTransceiver Subsystems (BTSs). In this case, the term “base station” maycollectively refer to a BSC 275, and at least one BS 270. The basestations may also indicate “cell sites”. Alternatively, individualsectors for a specific BS 270 may also be referred to as a plurality ofcell sites.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the Broadcasting Transmitter (BT) 295 maytransmit broadcasting signals to the mobile terminals 100 being operatedwithin the system. The broadcast receiving module 111 as illustrated inFIG. 1A may be provided in the mobile terminal 100 to receive broadcastsignals transmitted by the BT 295.

In addition, FIG. 2A illustrates several global positioning system (GPS)satellites 300. Such satellites 300 facilitate locating at least one ofa plurality of mobile terminals 100. Though two satellites areillustrated in FIG. 2A, location information may be obtained with agreater or fewer number of satellites. The location information module115 as illustrated in FIG. 1A may cooperate with the satellites 300 asillustrated in FIG. 2A to obtain desired location information. However,other types of position detection technology, all types of technologiescapable of tracing the location may be used in addition to a GPSlocation technology. Furthermore, at least one of the GPS satellites 300may alternatively or additionally provide satellite DMB transmissions.

During the operation of a wireless communication system, the BS 270 mayreceive reverse-link signals from various mobile terminals 100. At thistime, the mobile terminals 100 may perform calls, message transmissionsand receptions, and other communication operations. Each reverse-linksignal received by a specific base station 270 may be processed withinthat specific base station 270. The processed resultant data may betransmitted to an associated BSC 275. The BSC 275 may provide callresource allocation and mobility management functions including thesystemization of soft handoffs between the base stations 270.Furthermore, the BSCs 275 may also transmit the received data to the MSC280, which provides additional transmission services for interfacingwith the PSTN 290. Furthermore, similarly, the PSTN 290 may interfacewith the MSC 280, and the MSC 280 may interface with the BSCs 275. TheBSCs 275 may also control the BSs 270 to transmit forward-link signalsto the mobile terminals 100.

Next, a method of acquiring the location information of a mobileterminal using a WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) positioning system (WPS) willbe described with reference to FIG. 2B.

The WiFi positioning system (WPS) 300 refers to a location determinationtechnology based on a wireless local area network (WLAN) using WiFi as atechnology for tracking the location of the mobile terminal 100 using aWiFi module provided in the mobile terminal 100 and a wireless accesspoint 520 for transmitting and receiving to and from the WiFi module.

The WiFi positioning system 300 may include a WiFi locationdetermination server 510, a mobile terminal 100, a wireless access point(AP) 520 connected to the mobile terminal 100, and a database 530 storedwith any wireless AP information.

The WiFi location determination server 510 extracts the information ofthe wireless AP 520 connected to the mobile terminal 100 based on alocation information request message (or signal) of the mobile terminal100. The information of the wireless AP 520 may be transmitted to theWiFi location determination server 510 through the mobile terminal 100or transmitted to the WiFi location determination server 510 from thewireless AP 520.

The information of the wireless AP extracted based on the locationinformation request message of the mobile terminal 100 may be at leastone of MAC address, SSID, RSSI, channel information, privacy, networktype, signal strength and noise strength.

The WiFi location determination server 510 receives the information ofthe wireless AP 520 connected to the mobile terminal 100 as describedabove, and compares the received wireless AP 520 information withinformation contained in the pre-established database 530 to extract (oranalyze) the location information of the mobile terminal 100.

On the other hand, referring to FIG. 2B, as an example, the wireless APconnected to the mobile terminal 100 is illustrated as a first, asecond, and a third wireless AP 520. However, the number of wireless APsconnected to the mobile terminal 100 may be changed in various waysaccording to a wireless communication environment in which the mobileterminal 100 is located. When the mobile terminal 100 is connected to atleast one of wireless APs, the WiFi positioning system 300 can track thelocation of the mobile terminal 100.

Next, considering the database 530 stored with any wireless APinformation in more detail, various information of any wireless APsdisposed at different locations may be stored in the database 530.

The information of any wireless APs stored in the database 530 may beinformation such as MAC address, SSID, RSSI, channel information,privacy, network type, latitude and longitude coordinate, building atwhich the wireless AP is located, floor number, detailed indoor locationinformation (GPS coordinate available), AP owner's address, phonenumber, and the like.

In this manner, any wireless AP information and location informationcorresponding to the any wireless AP are stored together in the database530, and thus the WiFi location determination server 510 may retrievewireless AP information corresponding to the information of the wirelessAP 520 connected to the mobile terminal 100 from the database 530 toextract the location information matched to the searched wireless AP,thereby extracting the location information of the mobile terminal 100.

Hereinafter, a communication system which is operable with the mobileterminal 100 according to the present disclosure will be described.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are conceptual views of a communication system operablewith a mobile terminal in accordance with the present disclosure.

First, referring to FIG. 2A, such communication systems utilizedifferent air interfaces and/or physical layers. Examples of such airinterfaces utilized by the communication systems include FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA),Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of theUMTS, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

By way of non-limiting example only, further description will relate toa CDMA communication system, but such teachings apply equally to othersystem types including the CDMA wireless communication system.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, a CDMA wireless communication system is shownhaving a plurality of mobile terminals 100, a plurality of base stations(BSs) 270, base station controllers (BSCs) 275, and a mobile switchingcenter (MSC) 280. The MSC 280 is configured to interface with aconventional Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) 290. The MSC 280 isalso configured to interface with the BSCs 275. The BSCs 275 are coupledto the base stations 270 via backhaul lines. The backhaul lines may beconfigured in accordance with any of several known interfaces including,for example, E1/T1, ATM, IP, PPP, Frame Relay, HDSL, ADSL, or xDSL.Hence, the plurality of BSCs 275 can be included in the system as shownin FIG. 2A.

Each base station 270 may include one or more sectors, each sectorhaving an omni-directional antenna or an antenna pointed in a particulardirection radially away from the base station 270. Alternatively, eachsector may include two or more different antennas. Each base station 270may be configured to support a plurality of frequency assignments, witheach frequency assignment having a particular spectrum (e.g., 1.25 MHz,5 MHz, etc.).

The intersection of sector and frequency assignment may be referred toas a CDMA channel. The base stations 270 may also be referred to as BaseStation Transceiver Subsystems (BTSs). In some cases, the term “basestation” may be used to refer collectively to a BSC 275, and one or morebase stations 270. The base stations may also be denoted as “cellsites.” Alternatively, individual sectors of a given base station 270may be referred to as cell sites.

A broadcasting transmitter (BT) 295, as shown in FIG. 2A, transmits abroadcast signal to the mobile terminals 100 operating within thesystem. The broadcast receiving module 111 (FIG. 1A) is typicallyconfigured inside the mobile terminal 100 to receive broadcast signalstransmitted by the BT 295.

FIG. 2A further depicts several Global Positioning System (GPS)satellites 300. Such satellites 300 facilitate locating the position ofat least one of plural mobile terminals 100. Two satellites are depictedin FIG. 2A, but it is understood that useful position information may beobtained with greater or fewer satellites than two satellites. The GPSmodule 115 (FIG. 1A) is typically configured to cooperate with thesatellites 300 to obtain desired position information. It is to beappreciated that other types of position detection technology, (i.e.,location technology that may be used in addition to or instead of GPSlocation technology) may alternatively be implemented. If desired, atleast one of the GPS satellites 300 may alternatively or additionally beconfigured to provide satellite DMB transmissions.

During typical operation of the wireless communication system, the basestations 270 receive sets of reverse-link signals from various mobileterminals 100. The mobile terminals 100 are engaging in calls,messaging, and executing other communications. Each reverse-link signalreceived by a given base station 270 is processed within that basestation 270. The resulting data is forwarded to an associated BSC 275.The BSC 275 provides call resource allocation and mobility managementfunctionality including the orchestration of soft handoffs between basestations 270. The BSCs 275 also route the received data to the MSC 280,which then provides additional routing services for interfacing with thePSTN 290. Similarly, the PSTN 290 interfaces with the MSC 280, and theMSC 280 interfaces with the BSCs 275, which in turn control the basestations 270 to transmit sets of forward-link signals to the mobileterminals 100.

Hereinafter, description will be given of a method for acquiringlocation information of a mobile terminal using a wireless fidelity(WiFi) positioning system (WPS), with reference to FIG. 2B.

The WiFi positioning system (WPS) 300 refers to a location determinationtechnology based on a wireless local area network (WLAN) using WiFi as atechnology for tracking the location of the mobile terminal 100 using aWiFi module provided in the mobile terminal 100 and a wireless accesspoint 320 for transmitting and receiving to and from the WiFi module.

The WiFi positioning system 300 may include a WiFi locationdetermination server 310, a mobile terminal 100, a wireless access point(AP) 320 connected to the mobile terminal 100, and a database 330 storedwith any wireless AP information.

The WiFi location determination server 310 extracts the information ofthe wireless AP 320 connected to the mobile terminal 100 based on alocation information request message (or signal) of the mobile terminal100. The information of the wireless AP 320 may be transmitted to theWiFi location determination server 310 through the mobile terminal 100or transmitted to the WiFi location determination server 310 from thewireless AP 320.

The information of the wireless AP extracted based on the locationinformation request message of the mobile terminal 100 may be at leastone of MAC address, SSID, RSSI, channel information, privacy, networktype, signal strength and noise strength.

The WiFi location determination server 310 receives the information ofthe wireless AP 320 connected to the mobile terminal 100 as describedabove, and compares the received wireless AP 320 information withinformation contained in the pre-established database 330 to extract (oranalyze) the location information of the mobile terminal 100.

On the other hand, referring to FIG. 2B, as an example, the wireless APconnected to the mobile terminal 100 is illustrated as a first, asecond, and a third wireless AP 320. However, the number of wireless APsconnected to the mobile terminal 100 may be changed in various waysaccording to a wireless communication environment in which the mobileterminal 100 is located. When the mobile terminal 100 is connected to atleast one of wireless APs, the WiFi positioning system 300 can track thelocation of the mobile terminal 100.

Next, considering the database 330 stored with any wireless APinformation in more detail, various information of any wireless APsdisposed at different locations may be stored in the database 330.

The information of any wireless APs stored in the database 330 may beinformation such as MAC address, SSID, RSSI, channel information,privacy, network type, latitude and longitude coordinate, building atwhich the wireless AP is located, floor number, detailed indoor locationinformation (GPS coordinate available), AP owner's address, phonenumber, and the like.

In this manner, any wireless AP information and location informationcorresponding to the any wireless AP are stored together in the database330, and thus the WiFi location determination server 310 may retrievewireless AP information corresponding to the information of the wirelessAP 320 connected to the mobile terminal 100 from the database 330 toextract the location information matched to the searched wireless AP,thereby extracting the location information of the mobile terminal 100.

Furthermore, the extracted location information of the mobile terminal100 may be transmitted to the mobile terminal 100 through the WiFilocation determination server 310, thereby acquiring the locationinformation of the mobile terminal 100.

On the other hand, a mobile terminal according to the present disclosuremay have various design forms. Hereinafter, a mobile terminal having alateral display unit and a user interface using the same will bedescribed as one of the structural changes and improvements. FIG. 3A isa front perspective view illustrating another example of a mobileterminal associated with the present disclosure, and FIG. 3B is a rearperspective view of a mobile terminal illustrated in FIG. 3A.

A mobile terminal 200 disclosed herein has a portable phone body in abar shape. However, the present disclosure may not be necessarilylimited to this, and may be also applicable to various structures ofterminals such as a slide type, a folder type, a swing type, a swiveltype, and the like, in which two and more bodies are combined with eachother in a relatively movable manner.

The body includes a case (casing, housing, cover, etc.) forming anappearance of the terminal. In this embodiment, the case may be dividedinto a front case 201 and a rear case 202. Various electronic componentsmay be incorporated in a space formed between the front case 201 and therear case 202. At least one middle case may be additionally disposedbetween the front case 201 and the rear case 202.

The cases may be formed by injection-molding a synthetic resin or may bealso formed of a metal material such as stainless steel (STS), titanium(Ti), or the like.

A display unit 251, an audio output module 252, a camera module 221, andthe like may be disposed on the terminal body, mainly on the front case201.

The display unit 251 occupies most of a main surface of the front case101. In other words, the display unit is disposed on a front surface ofthe terminal, and formed to display visual information. The display unit251 according to the present disclosure may be formed on a front surfaceof the terminal as well as in a form extended to another surface of theterminal. More specifically, the display unit 251 may include a firstregion 261 disposed on the front surface, and a second region 262, 263extended from the first region 261 and disposed on a lateral surface ofthe body. Here, the lateral surface may be a surface which is seen bythe user when a mobile terminal is seen from the lateral surface (orside).

On the other hand, at least part of the second region 262, 263 may bedisposed on a front surface thereof. For example, the second region 262,263 may be formed over a lateral surface and a front surface of theterminal. Here, whether or not the second region 262, 263 is seen fromthe front surface is determined according to a structure in which thefirst and the second region 261, 262, 263 are formed on the display unit251.

For example, a window disposed on an upper surface of the display unit251 is formed in a shape in which both lateral surfaces are bent down,and through this, the appearance of a front surface and a lateralsurface of the body is formed by the window. Accordingly, the firstregion 261 and second region 262, 263 may be connected to each other ina shape having no physical interface. In this case, the display unit 251is formed in a bent shape, and may include display elements integratedto correspond to the window.

For another example, the display unit 251 may be a flexible displayunit. The flexible display may include a flexible, bendable, twistable,foldable and rollable display. Here, the flexible display unit mayinclude both typical flexible displays and electronic paper.

Here, typical flexible display may be a light and non-fragile rigiddisplay fabricated on a thin and flexible substrate that can be warped,bent, folded or rolled like a paper sheet while maintaining the displaycharacteristics of a flat display in the related art.

Furthermore, electronic paper as a display technology to which a typicalcharacteristic of ink is applied may be different from that of a typicalflat panel display in which reflective light is used. Electronic papermay change a drawing or text using twist balls or electrophoresis usingcapsules.

In this manner, it may be possible to configure a terminal body having aform in which both lateral surfaces of the display unit is warped byflexible material properties.

On the other hand, a form in which a flexible display unit is extendedto a front surface and both lateral surfaces thereof has been describedin the above, but the present disclosure may be also configured with aform in which three independent display units are disposed on a frontsurface and both lateral surfaces thereof. For example, a front displayunit 261 and a lateral display unit 262, 263 are independent displayunits, respectively, and may be configured with a form in which they aredisposed in an adjacent manner.

The audio output unit 252 and a camera module 221 may be disposed in aregion adjacent to one of both end portions of the display unit 251, anda front input unit (not shown) and a microphone 222 may be disposed in aregion adjacent to the other end portion.

The front input unit as an example of the user input unit 230 (refer toFIG. 1A) may include a plurality of manipulating units. The manipulatingunits may be commonly referred to as a manipulating portion, and anymethod may be employed if it is a tactile manner allowing the user toperform manipulation with a tactile feeling.

Furthermore, the display unit 251 may form a touch screen along with atouch sensor, and in this case, the touch screen may be a user inputunit. Through this, it may be possible to have a configuration with nofront input unit on a front surface of the terminal. In this case, amobile terminal may be configured to enable input manipulation to theterminal body only through the display unit 251 and a rear input unit232 which will be described later.

Referring to FIG. 3B, a camera module 221′ may be additionally mountedon a rear surface of the terminal body, namely, the rear case 202. Thecamera module 221′ has an image capturing direction, which issubstantially opposite to the direction of the camera 221 (refer to FIG.3A), and may have a different number of pixels from that of the cameramodule.

For example, it is preferable that the camera module 221 has arelatively small number of pixels enough not to cause a difficulty whenthe user captures his or her own face and immediately sends it to theother party during a video call or the like, and the camera module 221′has a relatively large number of pixels since the user often captures ageneral object but does not sends it immediately. The camera modules221, 221′ may be provided in the terminal body in a rotatable andpopupable manner.

A flash and a mirror may be additionally disposed adjacent to the cameramodule 221′. The flash illuminates light toward an subject whencapturing the subject with the camera module 221′. The mirror allows theuser to look at his or her own face, or the like, in a reflected waywhen capturing himself or herself (in a self-portrait mode) by using thecamera module 221′.

An audio output unit (not shown) may be additionally disposed on a rearsurface of the terminal body. The audio output unit on a rear surfacethereof together with the audio output unit 252 (refer to FIG. 3A) on afront surface thereof can implement a stereo function, and may be alsoused to implement a speaker phone mode during a phone call.

In other words, a second audio output unit configured with a speaker ona rear surface of the terminal may be formed along with the audio outputunit 252 (first audio output unit) configured with a receiver on a frontsurface thereof.

A power supply unit 290 for supplying power to the portable terminal 200may be mounted on the terminal body. The power supply unit 290 may beconfigured to be incorporated in the terminal body, or directlydetachable from the outside of the terminal body.

According to the drawing, a rear input unit 232 may be disposed on arear surface of the terminal body. The rear input unit 232 may belocated at a lower portion of the camera module 221′, for example.

The rear input unit 232 may be manipulated to receive a command forcontrolling the operation of the mobile terminal 200, and the receivedcontent may be set in various ways. For example, it may be possible toreceive a command such as power on/off, start, end, scroll or the like,or a command such as volume adjustment output from the audio output unit252, switching to a touch recognition mode of the display unit 251, orthe like. However, the present disclosure may not be necessarily limitedto this, and the terminal may include only either one or both of thefront input unit and rear input unit 232.

On the other hand, as described above, the controller 180 (refer to FIG.1A) may control the function of the terminal using a display unitdisposed on a lateral surface of the terminal.

Hereinafter, a method of controlling the function of the terminal usingdisplay units disposed on both lateral surfaces thereof will bedescribed in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For the sake of convenience of explanation, the second region 262denotes a display region disposed at a left side of both lateralsurfaces based on the front surface, and the third region 263 denotes adisplay region disposed at a right side of both lateral surfaces basedon the front surface. Furthermore, the first region 261 denotes adisplay (front display) disposed on the front surface.

Furthermore, on the contrary, though it is illustrated that the displayunit 251 according to the present disclosure includes display regions atboth the left and the right sides thereof, the display unit 251 mayfurther include a lateral display unit only at either one of the leftand the right sides thereof based on the first region 261. However,according to the present disclosure, for the sake of convenience ofexplanation, the display unit 251 including display regions (or displayunits) at a front surface, a left and a right sides thereof,respectively, will be described as an example.

Moreover, according to the present disclosure, a front display unit (orfirst region) will be described using reference numeral “261 or 151 a”,and a lateral display unit (or second region) will be described usingreference numeral “151 b”, “262” or “263”. And, the lateral display unitis also called “touch sensing unit”.

Moreover, the content that can be applicable to both the front andlateral display unit will be described as a “display unit 251 or 151”instead of reference numerals indicating the front and lateral displayunits, regardless of distinguishing the front and lateral display unit.

Hereinafter, a control method of combining the front and lateralsurfaces of the display unit to approach an application and execute theapplication or use it as a folder will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining a control method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, and FIGS. 5A(a) to 5D(c) are aconceptual view for explaining the control method of FIG. 4.

The display unit 151 a displays first screen information 510. Forexample, the first screen information 510 may correspond to an executionscreen of an activated application. For example, the first screeninformation 510 may correspond to an execution screen of a messageapplication.

The mobile terminal 100 may execute a plurality of applications, andactivate one of the plurality of applications. Though not shown in thedrawing, the controller may control the display unit to display visualinformation on the application being executed by a preset controlcommand. The controller may control the display unit to sequentiallydisplay visual information in the activated sequence of thecorresponding applications based on the control command.

The touch sensing unit 151 b is formed adjacent to both lateral surfacesof the display unit 151 along a length direction of the display unit151. The user may apply a touch input to the touch sensing unit 151 bformed by interposing the display unit 151 therebetween with his or hertwo fingers.

Though not shown in detail in the drawing, the touch sensing unit 151 bmay be configured with a display device for displaying visual data, andmay be formed to be incorporated with the display unit 151 as describedabove. Accordingly, preset visual information may be displayed on thetouch sensing unit 151 b configured with the display device. Forexample, the controller may control the touch sensing unit 151 b toilluminate one region of the touch sensing unit 151 b to which theuser's touch is applied.

A consecutive touch input is applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b(S502). Here, the touch inputs may be preferably applied to the bothtouch sensing units 151 b at the same time, but may not be necessarilylimited to this. The consecutive touch input is an input scheme due to afinger moving along a length direction of the display unit. The touchrange of the consecutive touch inputs is defined according to a lengthto which the touch input is applied as well as a location to which aninitial touch is applied.

The controller controls the display unit 151 to display second screeninformation in one region of the display unit corresponding to the touchrange of consecutive touch inputs (S503).

According to an embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5A(a) to 5A(d), thesecond screen information may correspond to an execution screen ofanother application. In other words, the controller controls the displayunit 151 to switch part of first screen information which is theexecution screen of the first application to second screen informationwhich is an execution screen of a second application. Referring to FIGS.5A(a) to 5A(d), the second application may correspond to an executionscreen of a gallery application for displaying a plurality of images.

The display unit displays the second screen information 520 in a partialregion of the display unit corresponding to a touch distance based on atouch range corresponding to the touch distance applied to the touchsensing unit 151 b. In other words, the partial region corresponds to aregion corresponding to a distance from an initial touch applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b to a final movement position. Touch inputsapplied to the both touch sensing units 151 b may preferably move insubstantially parallel to each other, but may not be necessarily limitedto this.

Furthermore, the display unit displays the second screen information 520in a region corresponding to the touch range, and displays part of thefirst screen information 510 in the remaining region. The second screeninformation 520 corresponds to part of an execution screen of the secondapplication.

When the touch range corresponds to part of the length of the displayunit, the controller activates the first and the second application atthe same time, and controls the display unit to display part of theexecution screen of the first and the second application in each dividedregion of the display unit.

Here, the second application corresponds to an application beingexecuted along with the first application but in an inactive state.Furthermore, the second application corresponds to an applicationactivated immediately prior to or subsequent to activating the firstapplication.

The touch sensing unit 151 b senses a touch input applied in bothdirections, namely, applied along a length direction or an oppositedirection thereof of the display unit. For example, when a touch inputconsecutively applied from the top to the bottom, the controller maycontrol the display unit to activate an application immediately prior toactivating a currently activated application, and display an executionscreen thereof.

Furthermore, the controller controls the display unit to display oneregion of each screen information along a direction in which the touchinput is applied. For example, when the touch input moves in a downwarddirection based on the display unit, the display unit display an upperregion of the first screen information 510 at a lower end portion of thedisplay unit, and a lower region of the second screen information 520 atan upper end portion of the display unit.

The controller controls the display unit to limit the output of part ofthe first screen information and display second screen information in alarger region in real time as increasing the touch range from a momentat which an initial touch is applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b.

Referring to FIGS. 5A(b) and 5A(c), when the touch range is applied in asubstantially similar manner to the length of a lateral surface of thedisplay unit, the controller controls the display unit to display thesecond screen information 520 as a whole on the display unit. Forexample, when the touch input is consecutively applied from theuppermost end to the lowermost end of a lateral surface of the displayunit, the controller controls the display unit to switch from the firstscreen information 510 to the second screen information 520.Furthermore, the controller may control the display unit to increase aregion displayed with the second screen information 520 as decreasing aregion displayed with the first screen information 510.

Accordingly, the controller may switch the first application to aninactive state.

Referring to FIGS. 5A(c) and 5A(d), the touch sensing unit 151 b sensesa touch input applied in an opposite direction. In other words, when atouch input moving from the lowermost end of the touch sensing unit 151b to the uppermost end thereof by the touch sensing unit 151 b, thecontroller controls the display unit to switch the second screeninformation 520 to the first screen information 510 again.

In other words, the controller controls the display unit to display theexecution screen of a previous application again based on the touchinput applied in an opposite direction.

The controller may sequentially record applications activated by theuser, and sequentially display the execution screens of the applicationsbased on the direction of a consecutive touch input applied to the touchsensing unit 151 b. It is assumed that a first through a thirdapplication care being executed, and a first application through a thirdapplication have been sequentially activated, and an execution screen ofthe second application is currently being displayed on the display unit.The controller may control the display unit to display an executionscreen of the first application based on a touch input applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b in a downward direction, and display anexecution screen of the third application based on a touch input appliedto the touch sensing unit 151 b in an upward direction.

Accordingly, the user may immediately execute an application that hasbeen previously executed regardless of entering an additional controlcommand to check information on an application currently being executedagain.

A control method of each application in a state that first and secondscreen information are displayed will be described with reference to 5B.The controller displays the first screen information 510 in one regionof the display unit based on a consecutive touch input applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b, and displays the second screen information 520in the remaining region.

Referring to FIGS. 5B(c) and 5B(d), the controller may apply a touchinput to the second screen information 520 to control the secondapplication. For example, when the second application corresponds to agallery application for displaying images stored in the memory 160, andthe second screen information 520 includes a plurality of images in areduced size.

In case where a plurality of images are displayed, if a touch input isapplied to one image, then the controller controls the display unit todisplay only the image in an enlarged size.

According to the present embodiment, when a touch input is applied toone image contained in the second screen information 520, the controllercontrols the display unit to display at least part 520′ of the image inthe remaining region of the display unit. In other words, the displayunit controls the second application based on a touch input applied tothe second screen information 520, and displays a changed executionscreen of the second application in the remaining region.

Though not shown in the drawing, the first application may be controlledby a touch input applied to the first screen information 510. In otherwords, the controller may activate the first and the second applicationat the same time while the first and the second screen information 510,520 are displayed at the same time.

Accordingly, the user may activate the first and the second applicationat the same time, and receive the resultant execution screens at thesame time.

A control method of providing an icon of a recommended application basedon a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5C(a) to 5C(c).

For example, the controller controls the display unit to display anexecution screen of an application that has been just previouslyactivated based on a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 bin a downward direction, and display an execution screen of anapplication that has been just subsequently (more recently) activatedbased on a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b in anupward direction.

Referring to FIGS. 5C(a) and 5C(b), when a touch input is applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b in an upward direction, the controller displayan execution screen of an application that has been recently activatedrather than the current application. However, when the first applicationof the first screen information 510 is a most recently activatedapplication, the controller provides information on a recommendedapplication.

In other words, the controller controls the display unit to displayrecommended icons corresponding to at least one application at a lowerend portion of the display unit. The recommended application may bepreviously set by the user, or recommended as a result of analyzing thefirst screen information 510.

For example, the recommended icon may include a first icon 531previously set by the user. The first icon 531 may correspond to agraphic image for receiving a touch input to switch the screen to a homescreen page.

The recommended icon may include a second icon 532 for an applicationexpected to be used through the analysis of the first screen information510 and a third icon 533 for an application associated with informationcontained in the first screen information 510. For example, when thefirst screen information 510 corresponding to an execution screen of amessage application is displayed, the first screen information 510 mayinclude text such as “Show me a photo” in the message. The controllermay expect that the user executes a gallery application to share images,and display a second icon 532 of the gallery application.

Furthermore, when a phone number is contained in the message, thecontroller may control the display unit to display a third icon 533 ofthe phone application.

Furthermore, the controller analyzes the execution trend of eachapplication using the recorded execution history of a user. For example,the controller may recommend an application having a high frequency ofbeing executed along the message application. For example, when a userfrequently executes an Internet connection application while activatingthe message application, the display unit may display a fourth icon 534of the Internet connection application.

The recommended icons are displayed to occupy a preset region of thedisplay unit. Referring to FIG. 5C(b), the recommended icons aredisplayed to cover part of the first screen information 510.

On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 5C(a) and 5C(c), the display unitmay display the recommended icons to limit the display of an upper endportion of the first screen information 510 and connect to a lower endportion of the first screen information 510 by moving the first screeninformation 510. In other words, the display unit may move the firstscreen information 510 in an upward direction and display the icons inthe remaining region thereof.

However, the location of displaying the icons may not be necessarilylimited to this. Furthermore, when a touch input applied in a downwarddirection is applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b in case where thedisplay unit currently display an execution screen of an applicationexecuted at the very first time, the controller may control the displayunit to display the recommended icons at an upper portion of the displayunit.

Accordingly, even when there no longer exists an execution screen ofapplication to be provided, the user may execute his or her desiredapplication in a more convenient manner using the recommendedapplication.

A control method of displaying two screen information at the same timewill be described with reference to FIGS. 5D(a) to 5D(c). Referring toFIG. 5D(a), when the consecutive touch input is suspended in one regionof the touch sensing unit 151 b, the controller displays part of thefirst and the second screen information 510, 520 at the same time on thedisplay unit. A boundary between the first and the second screeninformation 510, 520 corresponds to the location of the touch sensingunit 151 b to which the user's touch input is applied.

Referring to FIGS. 5D(a) and 5D(b), when a touch input applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b is released, the controller controls thedisplay unit to display only one of the first and the second screeninformation 510, 520.

For example, when the touch input is released, the controller selectsscreen information displayed in the largest region of the display unit.Accordingly, the controller controls such that the display of the firstscreen information 510 is limited, and the second screen information 520is displayed as a whole on the display unit.

On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 5D(a) and 5D(c), when a presettype of touch input is applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b, thecontroller may control the display unit to display the first and thesecond screen information 510, 520 at the same time.

For example, when a touch input (for example, long touch input in asuspended state) for a preset period of time is applied to and releasedfrom one region of the touch sensing unit 151 b while displaying thefirst and the second screen information 510, 520 at the same time on thedisplay unit, the controller may control the display unit to display thefirst and the second screen information 510, 520 at the same time. Thedisplay region and boundary of the first and the second screeninformation 510, 520 may correspond to one region of a touch sensingunit to which the long touch input is applied.

Accordingly, the user may receive at least one desired screeninformation in a more convenient manner.

FIGS. 6A(a) to 6A(d) and 6B(a) to 6B(c) are conceptual views forexplaining a control method of displaying additional information on onecontent selected from a plurality of contents contained in screeninformation.

FIG. 6A(a) illustrates a display unit for displaying a first executionscreen 540 of a gallery application in which a plurality of imagesacquired through different views of angle or schemes are displayed atthe same time. The controller senses one region of the touch sensingunit 151 b to which the touch input is applied. The first executionscreen 540 contains a plurality of contents, and the contents correspondto a plurality of images.

The controller selects at least one content displayed in one region ofthe display unit corresponding to one region of the touch sensing unit151 b on which the touch input is sensed. Here, one region of thedisplay unit corresponding to one region of the touch sensing unit 151 bis determined by two touch input positions applied in parallel to bothtouch sensing units 151 b formed at the both lateral surface thereof.Defining a virtual line connecting two touch input positions applied tothe both touch sensing units 151 b, the virtual line passes one regionof the display unit based on a touch input consecutively applied alongone direction. The controller selects content displayed in one region ofthe display unit through which the virtual line passes. In other words,the controller controls the display unit to display content displayed ina row on the display unit corresponding to the touch range.

The controller controls the display unit to display first additionalinformation 550 associated with the selected content. The firstadditional information 550 may be preferably displayed in a regionadjacent to the selected content. Furthermore, the controller maycontrol the display unit to display in such a manner that the firstadditional information 550 covers one region of the first executionscreen 540. However, a region of the display unit displayed with thefirst additional information 550 may not be necessarily limited to this.For example, the controller may control the display unit to move part ofthe first execution screen 540 to another region to secure a region inwhich the first additional information 550 is to be displayed.

The first additional information 550 may correspond to a menu forcontrolling (or editing) the selected content. For example, the firstadditional information 550 may correspond to a menu image for receivinga touch input to hide, edit or arrange the contents.

The controller may select a plurality of contents displayed in one rowsince the plurality of contents are selected by a touch input in a rowunit. In this case, the controller may select only one content from theplurality of contents using a touch input applied to the display unit.For example, as illustrated in the drawing, three images are selectedbased on a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b, and thedisplay unit displays a menu image for the three images. Consequently,the controller selects one image based on a touch input applied to thedisplay unit, and controls the selected one image based on an additionaltouch input applied to the menu image. As illustrated in the drawing,the controller controls the display unit to cover or (limit the displayof) the selected one content 541 based on a user's plurality of touchinputs.

The controller may control the display unit to limit the display of thefirst additional information 550 based on a touch input applied along adirection opposite to the touch sensing unit 151 b. In other words, thecontroller controls the display unit to select content using a touchinput applied along the one direction and display the first additionalinformation 550 according to the selected content, and controls thedisplay unit to allow the displayed first additional information 550 todisappear by a touch input applied along an opposite direction.

For example, a consecutive touch input applied along the oppositedirection may be defined as a touch input applied in such a manner thatthe virtual line passes through the first additional information 550.

Referring to FIGS. 6A(c) and 6A(d), the controller may control thedisplay unit limit the display of the first additional information 550and the selected one content 541 based on a touch input applied to thetouch sensing unit 151 b.

Furthermore, though not shown in the drawing, all contents contained ina row through which the virtual line passes may be selected based on thetouch input. For example, when text formed with a plurality of rows iscontained in the execution screen, the controller may select theplurality of rows, and perform editing on the text.

Accordingly, the user may select at least one content displayed on thedisplay unit using a touch input to one region of the touch sensingunit, and more easily receive additional information thereon.

A control method of providing distinguished additional information onselected content will be described with reference to FIGS. 6B(a) to6B(c).

FIG. 6B(a) is a view illustrating a display unit displaying theexecution screen 560 corresponding to a web browser screen. Theexecution screen 560 includes different forms of contents. For example,the execution screen 560 may include an image, an input window, text,video, an image connected to a hyperlink, an icon and the like. Forexample, the execution screen 560 may include first content 561containing an image and text and second content 562 with a numeric form.

Referring to FIGS. 6B(a) and 6B(b), the controller selects the firstcontent 561 based on a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151b. A method of selecting the content is substantially the same as themethod of 6A, and thus the redundant description thereof will beomitted.

The controller may control the display unit to select the first content561 based on the touch input, and display the second additionalinformation 571 in a region adjacent to the execution screen 560. Thesecond additional information 571 corresponds to information associatedwith the first content 561. For example, the second additionalinformation 571 may correspond to a menu image configured to receive atouch input for storing the image, storing the text or copying the imageand text.

On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 6B(a) and 6B(c), the controllerselects the second content 562 based on the touch input. The controllercontrols the display unit to display third additional information 572associated with the second content 562 in a region adjacent to the 562the second content 562.

For example, the third additional information 572 may include a menuimage for placing a call using the number, storing a numeral as a phonenumber or receiving a touch input to transmit text. The controlleractivates an application based on a touch input applied to one region ofthe menu image and performs a selected function using informationcontained in the content.

Accordingly, the user may select one of a plurality of contents, andreceive additional information associated with the selected content.

FIGS. 7A(a) to 7C(c) are conceptual views for explaining a controlmethod of displaying lower information of the selected content.

FIG. 7A(a) is a view illustrating a display unit for displaying thefirst execution screen 540 containing a plurality of image groups.Though not shown in the drawing, the controller may display at least onelower image contained in the image group on the display unit based on atouch input applied to the image group.

Referring to FIGS. 7A(a) and 7A(b), the controller selects at least oneimage group displayed in a row of the image group contained in the firstexecution screen 540 based on a touch input applied to the touch sensingunit 151 b. The controller may control the display unit to display atleast one image contained in the selected image group based on the touchinput consecutively applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b.

In other words, the controller may preferably control the display unitto display first lower information 551 of the selected image group, anddisplay the first lower information 551 in a region adjacent to theselected image group 541.

Furthermore, the controller may control the display unit to display thefirst lower information 551 in one region of the display unit throughwhich a line defined by a consecutive touch input applied to the touchsensing unit 151 b passes. Furthermore, the display unit may display alarger number of the first lower information 551 as increasing a regionof the applied touch input.

For example, when the image group selected by the touch sensing unit 151b contains a plurality of images, and the display unit displays aplurality of images in a preset size, the controller controls thedisplay unit to display the larger amount of images as increasing thetouch range.

In other words, the user may check a plurality of images contained inthe image group without applying a touch input to an image groupdisplayed on the display unit. Furthermore, when a plurality of imagegroups are selected, the user may receive distinguished images containedin each image group at the same time.

Referring to FIGS. 7A(a) and 7A(c), the controller controls the displayunit to display the second lower information 552 of the selected imagegroup. For example, the second lower information 552 may correspond tothe generation information, setting information, size or the like of theimage group.

A control method of providing third lower information contained in anapplication without activating the application in a home screen pagewill be described with reference to FIGS. 7B(a) to 7B(b).

FIG. 7B(a) is a view illustrating a display unit for displaying thirdscreen information 580 corresponding to a home screen page. The thirdscreen information 580 may include at least one icon for receiving atouch input to execute at least one application.

The display unit may further display a notification badge on the iconwhen an event occurs or is received at the application. For example,when a message is received at the mobile terminal, the display unit mayfurther display a notification badge on the icon 581 of the messageapplication.

The controller may select at least one of the plurality of icons basedon a touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b when the homescreen page is displayed.

The controller may control the display unit to display additionalinformation on an application corresponding to the selected icon. Forexample, the controller selects at least one icon displayed in oneregion of the display unit corresponding to a touch range of the touchsensing unit 151 b. The controller may display third lower information590 on the application of an icon formed with the notification badgeamong the selected icons.

For example, when the icon 581 of the message application is selected bythe touch range, the controller may control the display unit to displaythe received message.

However, the present disclosure may not be necessarily limited to this,and the controller may control the display unit to display theadditional information of an application corresponding to the selectedicon when there is no event or notification corresponding to theselected icon. Here, the additional information may correspond to thedescription of the application, information associated with setting,used memory or the like.

Furthermore, the display unit may display the third lower information590 in one region of the display unit corresponding to the touch rangebased on the touch range.

Accordingly, the user may receive information on an event on a homescreen page without activating an application containing the receivedevent.

Though not shown in the drawing, the controller may control the displayunit to limit the display of the third lower information 590 when atouch input in an opposite direction is applied to the touch sensingunit 151 b or a touch input is applied to one region of the display unit(a region in which the third lower information 590 is not displayed).

Furthermore, when a touch input is applied to the third lowerinformation 590, the controller may control the display unit to activatethe application, and display an execution screen of the application.

A notification image displayed on the touch sensing unit 151 b will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7C(a) to 7C(c). According to thepresent embodiment, the touch sensing unit 151 b may be implemented as adisplay device for displaying visual information. Accordingly, ifnecessary, the controller may control the touch sensing unit 151 b todisplay an image. The present embodiment may not be necessarily limitedto the control method illustrated in the drawing, and may be applicableto all the foregoing embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. 7C(a) to 7C(c), when displayable lower information iscontained in content, the controller controls such that the notificationimage 600 is displayed in one region of the touch sensing unit 151 b.The notification image 600 may be formed with a preset image or form ofemitting light. The notification image 600 may be preferably formed in aregion adjacent to content containing additional information or lowerinformation.

For example, when one image 542 of the images displayed on the displayunit contains lower information 553 in a state that a galleryapplication is activated, the controller controls the touch sensing unit151 b to display a notification image 600 in a row displayed with theimage 542.

Proactively describing FIGS. 7C(a) and 7C(c), the controller controlsthe display unit to display the image 542 in an enlarged manner anddisplay the lower information 553 at the same time by a touch inputapplied to the image 542.

Referring to FIGS. 7C(a) and 7C(b), when the touch range of the touchsensing unit 151 b contains a display region of the notification image600, the controller controls the display unit to display the lowerinformation 553.

Furthermore, the controller may control the touch sensing unit 151 b tomove the display location of the notification image 600 based on aconsecutive touch input applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b.However, the present disclosure may not be necessarily limited to this,and the touch sensing unit 151 b may modify the shape of thenotification image 600 or fix the location of the notification image 600based on the touch input.

Though not shown in the drawing, when an application executed prior toor subsequent to the execution of the application exists while displayan execution screen of one application, the notification image 600 maybe displayed at an upper portion or lower portion of the touch sensingunit 151 b.

Accordingly, the user may apply a touch input to the touch sensing unit151 b to check whether or not there is receivable information or contentassociated with receivable information in advance.

FIGS. 8A and 8C are a conceptual view for explaining a control methodaccording to a touch scheme of a touch input applied to touch sensingunits at both sides thereof. FIGS. 8A and 8C are a view illustrating adisplay unit for display the first screen information of the firstapplication.

The controller may control the display unit based on a consecutive touchinput applied to the touch sensing unit 151 b on one lateral surfacethereof in a state that touch inputs are applied to the touch sensingunits on both lateral surfaces thereof at the same time.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8C, when a long touch input is applied to oneregion of the left touch sensing unit, and a consecutive touch inputmoving along one direction is applied to the right touch sensing unit,the second screen information 520 of the second application is displayedalong with the first screen information 510.

Here, a region of the display unit on which the second screeninformation 520 is displayed is based on the touch range of a touchinput applied to the right touch sensing unit 151 b. In other words,even in case of a consecutive touch input being applied only to one sideof the touch sensing unit as well as consecutive touch inputs beingapplied to the left and right side thereof at the same time, it may bepossible to activate another application.

On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 8A and 8C, when a long touch inputis applied to the left touch sensing unit 151 b, and a consecutive touchinput is applied to the right touch sensing unit, the controlleractivates a second application.

However, the controller controls the display unit to display the firstand the second screen information 510, 520 using one region of the lefttouch sensing unit 151 b to which the long touch input is applied as aboundary. According to the present embodiment, the display informationof the screen information cannot be controlled by the touch range of aconsecutive touch input to the right touch sensing unit 151 b.

Accordingly, even if both consecutive touch inputs are not applied tothe touch sensing units 151 b at both sides thereof, it may be possibleto control the activation of an application and the display of screeninformation in a more convenient manner.

Hereinafter, a method of performing various function using both lateralsurfaces of the display unit will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 9 is a flow chartillustrating a method of controlling both lateral surface of the displayunit according to the present disclosure, and FIGS. 10A(a) to 10D(b) areconceptual views illustrating the control method of FIG. 9.

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may perform theprocess of displaying screen information in a first region disposed on afront surface of the body (S910).

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may furtherinclude a display unit 251 on which a first region 261 is disposed on afront surface of the body, and a second region 262, 263 connected to thefirst region and disposed on a lateral surface of the body.

Screen information associated with a function that can be driven in themobile terminal may be displayed on the display unit 251. For example,the screen information may be the execution screen information of anapplication installed in the mobile terminal. Furthermore, a graphicobject such as an icon, a widget or the like indicating an applicationinstalled in the mobile terminal may be displayed on the display unit251.

On the other hand, screen information associated with a function thatcan be driven in the mobile terminal may be displayed even in a secondregion as well as in the first region 261.

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may sense a presettype of touch being applied to a second region disposed on a lateralsurface of the body (S920).

The controller 180 may control the first and the second region in aninterlocking manner. For example, the controller 180 may control screeninformation displayed in the first region using a touch applied to thesecond region. Here, controlling screen information may be understood asperforming a function associated with the screen information. Forexample, the controller 180 may perform the function of scrolling theweb page according to a drag input applied to the second region 262 in astate that screen information indicating a web page is displayed in thesecond region 262.

To this end, a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure mayfurther include a sensing unit 140 capable of sensing a touch applied tothe first and the second region. The sensing unit 140 may be a touchsensor configured to sense a touch applied to the display unit 251.

On the other hand, a display unit disposed on a lateral surface of thebody may include a second region 262 disposed on a left lateral surfacethereof and a third region 263 disposed on a right lateral surfacethereof.

The controller 180 may sense a touch applied to at least part of thesecond and the third region using the sensing unit 140. Here, thecontroller 180 may determine whether or not a preset type of touch hasbeen sensed in the second and the third region. The preset type of touchmay use various touch input schemes such as a drag input, a multi touchor the like applied to at least part of the second and the third region.For example, the controller 180 may sense a drag input applied to thesecond and the third region at the same time. Here, the direction of thedrag input may be the same direction or different directions in thesecond and the third region.

When a preset type of touch is sensed on at least part of the second andthe third region, a mobile terminal according to the present disclosuremay perform the process of displaying information associated with screeninformation displayed in the first region in a direction different fromthe displayed direction of the screen information (S930).

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may display screeninformation having at least two or more display directions in the firstregion. In other words, the user may view at least two screeninformation having different directions at the same time.

To this end, in a state that screen information having a first displaydirection is displayed in the first region, the controller 180 maydisplay screen information having a second display direction which isdifferent from the first display direction in at least part of the firstregion.

Here, the display direction of the screen information may denote adirection in which the screen information is displayed on the displayunit 251. More specifically, the display direction of the screeninformation may be determined according to the posture of the mobileterminal body. For example, when the display direction of the screeninformation displayed in a posture in which a front surface of thedisplay unit 251 is placed in a horizontal direction is defined as afirst display direction, the display direction of the screen informationdisplayed in a posture in which a front surface of the display unit 251is placed in a vertical direction may be defined as a second displaydirection. In other words, the second display direction may be displayedwith a difference of 90 degrees from the first display direction.

According to the present disclosure, the screen information havingdifferent directions may denote screen information displayed accordingto the posture of the body. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10A(c),screen information 1010 having a first display direction may denotescreen information displayed when the body is placed in a horizontaldirection, and screen information 1020 having a second display directionmay be understood as screen information displayed when the body is placein a vertical direction.

Furthermore, the display direction of the screen information may bedetermined by a preset type of touch. For example, the display directionof the screen information may be determined according to the directionof a drag input applied to the second region.

Here, in a state that screen information having the first displaydirection is displayed, the second display direction may be determinedby a direction in which a preset touch is applied. For example, thecontroller 180 may determine a direction corresponding to the directionof a drag input applied to the second region as a second displaydirection.

Here, screen information having the first display direction and screeninformation having the second display direction may be screeninformation associated with each other. For example, when screeninformation having the first display direction is screen informationindicating the outgoing and incoming record of SMS text messages, screeninformation having the second display direction may be screeninformation indicating a list of recipients capable of transmitting anSMS text messages.

For another example, screen information having the second displaydirection may be screen information to be displayed in the first regionwhen screen information having the first display direction is displayedin the second display direction. More specifically, screen informationdisplayed in the first region may be displayed any one of the firstdisplay direction and second display direction. In this case, in a statethat screen information having the first display direction is displayedin the first region, the controller 180 may display the same informationin the second display direction at the same time.

Furthermore, screen information having the first display direction andscreen information having the second display direction are screeninformation unrelated to each other. For example, screen informationhaving the first display direction is screen information associated withthe execution of a first application installed in the mobile terminal,screen information having the second display direction may be screeninformation associated with the execution of a second application whichis different from the first application. Here, the second applicationmay be any one of a plurality of applications being currently executedin the mobile terminal which is different from the first application.

On the other hand, according to the present disclosure, in addition tothe first and the second display direction, screen information havingvarious display directions such as a third and a fourth displaydirection may be displayed at the same time. Hereinafter, a case wheretwo screen information having two directions are displayed at the sametime will be described, but it may be also applicable to a case where aplurality of screen information having a plurality of display directionsare displayed.

In a state that screen information having the first display direction isdisplayed, the controller 180 may display screen information having thesecond display direction in at least part of the screen informationhaving the first display direction.

More specifically, the controller 180 may display screen informationhaving the second display direction in a region corresponding to aregion in which a preset type of touch is sensed. Here, screeninformation having the first display direction may maintain the displaystate as it is. In this case, screen information having the seconddisplay direction may be displayed to be overlapped with screeninformation having the first display direction.

Here, a region displayed with screen information having the seconddisplay direction may be determined based on a region in which thepreset type of touch is sensed in the first region. For example, whenthe preset type of touch is a drag input applied to the second and thethird region 262, 263 at the same time, screen information having thesecond display direction may be displayed in a region having a lengthcorresponding to a length over which the drag input is sensed.

Furthermore, when a preset type of touch is sensed, the controller 180may switch screen information having the first display direction intoscreen information having the second display direction. In this case,the user may switch the display direction of the screen information withno posture change of the display unit 251. Here, the posture of thedisplay unit 251 may be either one of a posture in which the displayunit 251 is placed in a vertical direction and a posture in which thedisplay unit 251 is placed in a horizontal direction.

When screen information having the first and the second displaydirection are screen information relevant to each other in a state thatthe screen information having the first and the second display directionare displayed in the first region 261 at the same time, an indicatorindicating the relevance may be displayed on at least one of the screeninformation having the first and the second display direction.

More specifically, when at least part of the screen information havingthe first display direction and screen information having the seconddisplay direction are the same, the controller 180 may display the sameportion to be visually distinguished from the remaining screeninformation.

For example, when screen information having the first display directionis screen information indicating map information and screen informationhaving the second display direction is screen information indicatingmore extended map information containing the map information, thecontroller 180 may process a region indicating the same information asthe screen information having the first display direction in the screeninformation having the second display direction in highlighted manner tovisually distinguish it from the remaining screen information.

Furthermore, when screen information having the first display directionand screen information having the second display direction are screeninformation associated with each other, the controller 180 may controlthe other screen information in response to a touch manipulation withrespect to either one of the screen information having the first and thesecond direction. Here, the control of the screen information may denoteperforming various functions associated with screen information such asscrolling screen information, switching screen information or the like.

Hereinafter, displaying the screen information having different displaydirections in the first region will be described in more detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

As illustrated in FIG. 10A(a), a mobile terminal according to thepresent disclosure may include a display unit 251 having a first region261 and a second region 262, 263. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 10A(a),an execution screen associated with an application being executed in themobile terminal may be displayed in the first region 261. For example,the execution screen may be screen information 1010 associated with mapinformation. Here, the screen information 1010 as well as mapinformation may have a first display direction.

Here, the controller 180 may sense a touch applied to the second region262, 263. More specifically, when the second region is divided into afirst sub-region 262 and a second sub-region 263, the controller maysense a touch applied to at least one of the first and the secondsub-region 262, 263. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10A(b), thecontroller 180 may sense a drag input applied to the first and thesecond sub-region 262, 263 at the same time.

When the sensed touch is a preset type of touch, the controller 180 maydisplay information having a second display direction which is differentfrom the first display direction in at least part of the first region.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10A(c), the controller 180 maydisplay screen information in the form of being displayed wheninformation displayed in the first display direction has a seconddisplay direction which is different from the first display direction inat least part of the first region. More specifically, when screeninformation having the first display direction is screen information onwhich map information is displayed in a horizontal direction based onthe front surface of the display unit 251, screen information having thesecond display direction may be screen information 1020 on which the mapinformation is displayed in a vertical direction based on the frontsurface of the display unit 251.

Through this, the user may receive screen information having variousdisplay directions with no posture change or additional manipulation ofthe mobile terminal body.

On the other hand, the controller 180 may determine a region displayedwith screen information having the second display direction based on aregion in which a preset touch is sensed. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 10B(b), the controller 180 may sense a drag input in the secondregion 262, 263. Here, the controller 180 may determine a region inwhich screen information having the second display direction isdisplayed based on a length over which the drag input is sensed in thesecond region 262, 263 within the first region 261.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B(c), the controller 180 maydisplay screen information having the second display direction in aregion having a length corresponding to a length over which the draginput is sensed in the second region 262, 263 within the first region261.

Through this, the user may adjust the length of a drag input applied tothe second region to determine the size of a region in which screeninformation having a different display direction is to be displayed.

Furthermore, the controller 180 may display screen information 1020having the second display direction in a region corresponding to aregion to which a drag input is applied. More specifically, thecontroller 180 may detect the start position and end position of a draginput applied to the second region 262, 263. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 10C(b), the controller 180 may detect a region from a positioncorresponding to the start position of the drag input to a positioncorresponding to the end position thereof within the first region.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 10C(c), the controller 180 may displayscreen information 1020 having the second display direction in thedetected region.

Through this, the user may determine a region in which screeninformation having the second display direction is to be displayed.

Furthermore, the controller 180 may no longer display screen informationhaving the second display direction in response to a preset touch beingsensed in a state that screen information having the first and thesecond display direction are displayed at the same time in the firstregion 261.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10D(a), when a drag input is sensedin a preset direction, the controller 180 may allow screen information1020 having the second display direction to disappear from the firstregion. Here, only the screen information 1010 having the first displaydirection may be displayed in the first region 261.

In the above, a method of displaying screen information having a firstand a second display direction at the same time has been described.Through this, the user may view screen information displayed in aplurality of directions with no additional manipulation such as aposture change of the display unit.

Hereinafter, a method of displaying a relationship between the screeninformation associated with each other when screen information havingthe first and the second display direction are screen informationassociated with each other will be described. FIGS. 11A(a) to 11C(c) areconceptual views for explaining a relationship between screeninformation associated with each other.

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may display screeninformation having a first and a second display direction at the sametime. Here, the screen information having the first and the seconddisplay direction may be screen information associated with each other.For example, when the first screen information is a screen informationindicating part of a document, the second screen information may bescreen information indicating another part of the document containingthe document content of the first screen information. In other words,the screen information having the first and the second display directionmay be screen information on which part of the same document has adifferent display direction.

On the other hand, when screen information having the first and thesecond display direction are associated with each other, the controller180 may visually display a relationship with the relevant screeninformation. More specifically, the controller 180 may display screeninformation having the first and the second display direction in such amanner that a region displayed with the same information isdistinguished from another region.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11A(a), when a preset type of touchis sensed in the second region 262, 263 in a state that screeninformation 1110 having a first display direction is displayed, thecontroller 180 may display screen information 1120 having a seconddisplay direction which is different from the first display direction inat least part of the first region.

Here, the controller 180 may detect a region in which the sameinformation is displayed in the screen information having the firstdisplay direction and screen information having the second displaydirection. For example, when screen information having the first displaydirection is information indicating part of a document, the controller180 may detect a region displayed with the same information asinformation indicating the screen information having the first displaydirection in the screen information having the second display direction.

When a region displayed with the same information is detected, thecontroller 180 may display a region displayed with the same informationto be visually distinguished from another region in at least one of thescreen information having the first and the second display direction.

Here, the controller 180 may process either one of the screeninformation having the first and the second display direction in avisually distinguished manner, and process both the screen informationhaving the first and the second display direction in a visuallydistinguished manner.

Furthermore, the controller 180 may select the screen information in avisually distinguished manner based on a preset condition. Here, thepreset condition may be a condition containing a larger amount of screeninformation between the screen information having the first and thesecond display direction. In other words, containing a larger amount ofscreen information may denote that either one thereof contains all thescreen information displayed in the other one thereof.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11A(b), in a state that the screeninformation 1120 having the second display direction is overlapped withthe screen information 1110 having the first display direction, thecontroller 180 may process a region 1130 displayed with the sameinformation as the screen information 1110 having the first displaydirection within the screen information 1120 having the second displaydirection in a highlighted manner. The highlight processing may beexpressed using the contrast, color, graphic object or the like of theregion.

Furthermore, the controller 180 may process a region displayed with thesame information as the screen information having the second displaydirection within the screen information having the first displaydirection in a highlighted manner. For example, as illustrated in FIG.11B(b), when screen information having a first display direction isdisplayed on screen information having a second display direction, thecontroller 180 may process a region 1130 displayed with the sameinformation within the screen information 1120 having the second displaydirection in a highlighted manner.

In other words, the controller 180 may detect screen information havinga larger amount of screen information while containing a regiondisplayed with the same information within screen information having afirst and a second display direction, and process the region displayedwith the same information within the detected screen information in ahighlighted manner.

Furthermore, the controller 180 may control another one using a touch toeither one of the screen information having the first and the seconddisplay region. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11C(b), a region1130 currently corresponding to the first display region may beprocessed in a highlighted manner in the second display region. Here,the controller 180 may sense a touch being applied to any one regionwithin a region displayed with screen information 1120 having a seconddisplay direction.

When the touch is sensed, as illustrated in FIG. 11C(c), the controller180 may scroll screen information having the first display directionsuch that information displayed in a region displayed with a position atwhich the touch is sensed is displayed on screen information having thefirst display direction. In this case, the region 1130 corresponding toa region in which the touch is sensed may be processed in a highlightedmanner.

In the above, a method of controlling another one using a touch toeither one of screen information having the first and the second displaydirection in a state that the screen information having the first andthe second display direction is displayed in the first region has beendescribed. Through this, the user may use screen information having afirst and a second display direction in an organic manner.

Hereinafter, a method of displaying screen information having a seconddisplay direction in a state screen information having a first displaydirection is displayed will be described. FIGS. 12A(a) to 12B(b) areconceptual views for explaining an embodiment of displaying screeninformation having a second display direction.

The controller 180 may display screen information having a displaydirection which is different from the display direction of the screeninformation displayed in the first region in at least part of screeninformation displayed in the first region based on a preset touch beingapplied thereto.

Here, the preset type of touch as a touch applied to the display unit251 may be determined by at least one of a region in which the touch isapplied, a time for which the touch is applied, a method with which thetouch is applied, an area in which the touch is applied, and a lengthover which the touch is applied.

For example, the preset type of touch may be a drag input applied to thesecond region 262, 263 at the same time. Furthermore, the preset type oftouch may be also determined by the direction of the drag input.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 12A(a), when the secondregion contains a first sub-region 262 and a second sub-region 263, thepreset type of touch may be a touch sensed in a region having an arealarger than a preset area applied to either one of the first and thesecond sub-region 262, 263.

For still another example, as illustrated in FIG. 12B(a), the presettype of touch may be touches applied to the first and the secondsub-region at the same time. Here, the directions of the touches appliedto the first and the second sub-region may have the same or differentdirections. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12B(a), touches appliedto the first and the second sub-region may be applied in differentdirections.

As illustrated in FIGS. 12A(b) and 12B(b), when the preset type of touchis sensed, the controller 180 may display the screen information havingdifferent directions in at least part of the first region 261.

In the above example, screen information having different displaydirections have been displayed by a touch applied to the second region262, 263. Through this, the user may view at least two screeninformation according to at least two directions at once with a simplemanipulation. On the other hand, the present disclosure may not benecessarily limited to this, and may display screen information havingdifferent directions by various control commands. For example, variousschemes may be used such as a preset type of touch applied to the firstregion, a button input, a voice input, and the like.

Hereinafter, a method of determining at least one of at least some ofthe display locations of the screen information having the first and thesecond display direction in a state that the screen information havingthe first and the second display direction is displayed in the firstregion. FIGS. 13A(a) to 13B(b) are conceptual views illustrating amethod of determining at least one of at least some of the displaylocations of screen information having the first and the second displaydirection.

The controller 180 may change at least one of the display locations ofthe screen information having the first and the second display directionbased on a preset type of touch applied to the second region 262, 263 ina state that the screen information having the first display directionand screen information having the second display direction are displayedin the first region at the same time.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13A(a), the controller 180 may sensetouches applied to the second region 262, 263 at the same time indifferent directions. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 13A(b), thecontroller 180 may change a location at which the screen information1010 having the first display direction is displayed and a location atwhich the screen information 1020 having the second display direction isdisplayed in response to the touch. In other words, the user may viewthe display locations of the screen information 1010 having the firstdisplay direction and screen information 1020 having the second displaydirection, which are displayed in a changed manner.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 13B(a), the controller 180may change the display location of the screen information 1020 havingthe second display direction while not changing the display location ofthe screen information 1010 having the first display direction.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 13B(b), the controller 180 may rotate anddisplay the screen information 1020 having the second display directionaccording to the extent of drag inputs applied to the second region 262,263 in different directions. In this case, the screen information 1020having the second display direction may be displayed to be overlappedwith the screen information 1010 having the first display direction.

In the above, a method of changing at least one of the display locationsof the screen information having the first and the second displaydirection when a preset type of touch is applied to the second region ina state that the screen information having the first and the seconddisplay direction are displayed has been described. Through this, theuser may receive screen information having different display directionsat various display locations.

Hereinafter, when the screen information having the second displaydirection is displayed based on a preset type of touch being applied tothe second region in a state that the screen information having thefirst display direction is displayed in the first region, the type ofscreen information having the second display direction will be describedin more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIGS. 14A(a)to 14D(b) are conceptual views illustrating a type of screen informationhaving a second display direction.

When a preset type of touch is sensed in a state that screen informationhaving a first display direction is displayed in the first region 261,the controller 180 may display screen information having a seconddisplay direction to be overlapped with at least part of the firstregion.

Here, the screen information having the second display direction mayhave been previously set or may be set by the user. More specifically,the screen information having the second display direction maypreviously correspond to the screen information having the first displaydirection, respectively. Furthermore, the user may directly set thescreen information having the second display direction for each of thescreen information having the first display direction.

The screen information having the second display direction may be screeninformation associated with the screen information having the firstdisplay direction. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14A(a), thescreen information having the first display direction may be screeninformation 1400 a associated with the transmission and reception ofmessages. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 14A(b), the screen informationhaving the second display direction may be screen information 1400 bindicating an identification information list of external terminalscapable of transmitting and receiving messages.

For another example, as illustrated in FIG. 14B(a), the screeninformation having the first display direction may be screen information1410 a associated with schedule management. Here, as illustrated in FIG.14B(b), the screen information having the second display direction maybe screen information 1410 b screen information indicating a to-do listassociated with the schedule.

For still another example, as illustrated in FIG. 14C(a), the screeninformation having the first display direction may be any one image 1420a among a plurality of images stored in the memory unit 170 of themobile terminal. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 14C(b), the screeninformation having the second display direction may be screeninformation 1420 b indicating at least some of a plurality of imagesstored in the memory unit 170 of the mobile terminal.

For yet still another example, as illustrated in FIG. 14D(a), the screeninformation having the first display direction may be any one slide 1430a among PPT slides. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 14D(b), the screeninformation having the second display direction may be screeninformation 1430 b indicating the PPT list.

In other words, the screen information having the second displaydirection as information associated with the screen information havingthe first display direction may be screen information providing the userthat being displayed in a second display direction is more convenientthan being displayed in a first display direction.

In the above, the type of screen information having the second displaydirection when the screen information having the first and the seconddisplay direction are displayed at the same time has been described.

Hereinafter, a method of displaying images received from camerasdifferent capture directions in a mobile terminal having the camerashaving different capture directions will be described. FIGS. 15A(a) to15B(c) are conceptual views illustrating a method of displaying imagesreceived from cameras having different capture directions.

A mobile terminal according to the present disclosure may furtherinclude a camera unit 121. Here, the camera unit 121 may be configuredto change its capture direction. Furthermore, the present disclosure mayinclude at least two camera units 121 a, 121 b having different capturedirections. Hereinafter, the term of camera unit 121 may be used as aterm including all of at least two camera units 121 a, 121 b havingdifferent capture directions.

The controller 180 may display an image 1510 received from the cameraunit 121 a. Here, when a preset type of touch is received, thecontroller 180 may activate the camera unit 121 b in which the receivedimage 1510 has a different capture direction from the capture direction.Furthermore, the controller 180 may display an image 1520 received fromthe camera unit 121 b having the different capture direction to beoverlapped with at least part of the received image 1510.

For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 15A(a) through 15A(c), when apreset type of touch is applied, the controller 180 may display imagesreceived from the camera units 121 a, 121 b having different capturedirection at the same time. Here, a preset type of touch may be a touchapplied to the second region 262, 263. At this time, though the cameraunits 121 a, 121 b having different capture directions can be used, thepresent disclosure may be configured to receive images captured by therotation of the camera unit 121.

For another example, as illustrated in FIGS. 15B(a) to 15B(c), thecontroller 180 may display an image 810 received through either onecamera unit 121 a between the camera units 121 a, 121 b having oppositecapture directions to each other. At this time, when a preset type oftouch is sensed, the controller 180 may display images received from theany one camera unit 121 a and the other camera unit 121 b in at leastpart 1530 of the displayed image 1510.

On the other hand, an image received from the camera unit 121 b havingthe different capture direction may be applicable to all the foregoingembodiments of screen information having a second display direction.

In the above, a method of displaying images received from camera unitshaving different capture directions has been described. Through this,the user can activate the camera units using only touch manipulation.Furthermore, the user can compare images captured in various capturedirections at once, thereby providing the convenience of capture.

Hereinafter, a specific region of the screen information having a firstdisplay direction being set to screen information having a seconddisplay direction will be described. FIGS. 16A to 16B are a conceptualview illustrating that a specific region of the screen informationhaving a first display direction is set to screen information having asecond display direction.

When a preset type of touch applied to the second region 262, 263 issensed in a state that screen information having a first displaydirection is displayed in the first region 261, the controller 180 maychange at least some of the display directions of the screen informationhaving the first display direction.

At this time, the screen information changed in the display directionmay be displayed to be overlapped with the screen information having thefirst display direction.

On the other hand, the screen information changed in the displaydirection may be screen information determined that being displayed tohave a second display direction among screen information having thefirst display direction is more convenient. For example, when the screeninformation having the first display direction is document information,the screen information having the second display direction may be animage contained in the document information.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16A, a drag input may be sensed inthe second region 262, 263 in a state that document information 1610 isdisplayed in the first region 261. At this time, the controller 180 maydetermine the content of the document information 1610, and detectobject information to be displayed in a second display direction whichis different from the first display direction. For example, the objectinformation may be an image 920. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 16B, thecontroller 180 may display the detected image 1620 in at least part ofthe document information 1610.

Through this, the user may view screen information on which the displaydirection is changed only in at least part thereof, thereby providingscreen information with a higher readability.

According to the present disclosure, the direction of screen informationdisplayed on the display unit may be implemented with only a simplemanipulation, thereby providing images having various display directionsto the user.

Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, the display directionof screen information displayed on the display unit may be changedthrough a manipulation to a lateral surface of the display unit, therebyproviding a screen with a higher readability to the user.

The foregoing present invention may be implemented as codes readable bya computer on a medium written by the program. The computer-readablemedia may include all kinds of recording devices in which data readableby a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable mediamay include hard disk drive (HDD), solid state disk (SSD), ROM, RAM,CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device, andthe like, and also include a device implemented in the form of a carrierwave (for example, transmission via the Internet). In addition, thecomputer may include the controller 180 of the terminal. Accordingly,the detailed description thereof should not be construed as restrictivein all aspects but considered as illustrative. The scope of theinvention should be determined by reasonable interpretation of theappended claims and all changes that come within the equivalent scope ofthe invention are included in the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile terminal, comprising: a body having afront side, a back side and a lateral side connecting the front side andthe back side; a display located on the front side and configured todisplay screen information; a touch sensing unit formed on the lateralside adjacent to the display and configured to receive a touch input;and a controller configured to: cause the display to divide a displayscreen into a first window and a second window in response to a firsttouch input received via the touch sensing unit, the first touch inputreceived while first screen information is displayed on the display;cause the display to display the first screen information in the firstwindow; and cause the display to display second screen information inthe second window, wherein: the second screen information is notdisplayed on the display at the time when the first touch input isreceived; the first touch input starts at a first point on the touchsensing unit and ends at a second point on the touch sensing unit; and asize of the first window is determined based on a distance between thefirst point and the second point such that the size of the first windowis variable according to the distance of the first touch input.
 2. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein: the touch sensing unit is locatedadjacent to both sides of the display; and the first touch inputcomprises touching the first point and sliding from the touched firstpoint to the second point.
 3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein:the first screen information is related to a first application and thesecond screen information is related to a second application that isdifferent from the first application; and the first application and thesecond application are activated sequentially, and the secondapplication is executed in background while only the first screeninformation is displayed at the time the first touch input is received.4. The mobile terminal of claim 3, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to control the first application or the second application inresponse to a second touch input applied to the first screen informationor the second screen information.
 5. The mobile terminal of claim 1,wherein: the first screen information is related to a first application;and the second screen information comprises an icon of a recommendedapplication associated with the first screen information when the firstapplication is a first or most recently activated application or whenthe distance associated with the first touch input is less than athreshold distance.
 6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to cause the display to selectivelydisplay only one of the first screen information and the second screeninformation in response to releasing of the first touch input from thetouch sensing unit, such that the one of the first screen informationand the second screen information that is displayed in a larger windowbetween the first window and the second window is selectively displayed.7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein: the first screen informationcomprises a plurality of items; and the second screen informationincludes information associated with at least one item that is selectedfrom the plurality of items.
 8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein:the controller is further configured to select the at least one item inresponse to the first touch input; and the at least one item is locatedat a location of the display that generally corresponds to the distancebetween the first point and the second point on the touch sensing unit.9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the information associatedwith the at least one selected item comprises a menu related to editingof the at least one selected item.
 10. The mobile terminal of claim 8,wherein the information associated with the at least one selected itemcomprises a menu for executing a function associated with the at leastone selected item.
 11. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein theinformation associated with the at least one selected item comprises atleast one sub item associated with the at least one selected item orfurther information describing the at least one selected item.
 12. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein: the first screen informationcorresponds to a home screen page including a plurality of icons, eachof the plurality of icons representing a corresponding one of aplurality of applications; the controller is further configured toselect at least one icon from the plurality of icons in response to thefirst touch input; and the controller is further configured to cause thedisplay to display further information associated with at least oneapplication corresponding to the at least one selected icon.
 13. Themobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configuredto cause the touch sensing unit to display a notification image at alocation of the touch sensing unit to provide guidance for receiving thefirst touch input for displaying the second screen information.
 14. Themobile terminal of claim 13, wherein: the first screen informationcomprises a plurality of contents; the second screen information isfurther information associated with one of the plurality of contents;and the location of the touch sensing unit where the notification imageis displayed corresponds to a location of the display screen where theone of the plurality of contents is displayed.
 15. A method ofcontrolling a mobile terminal comprising a touch sensing unit locatedadjacent to a display, the method comprising: dividing a display screenof the display into a first window and a second window in response to atouch input received via the touch sensing unit, the touch inputreceived while first screen information is displayed on the display;displaying the first screen information in the first window; anddisplaying second screen information in the second window, wherein: thesecond screen information is not displayed on the display at the timewhen the touch input is received; the touch input starts at a firstpoint on the touch sensing unit and ends at a second point on the touchsensing unit; and a size of the first window is determined based on adistance between the first point and the second point such that the sizeof the first window is variable according to the distance.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising: storing a sequence a pluralityof applications, which includes a first application and a secondapplication, being executed according to their order of execution,wherein: the first screen information is related to the firstapplication and the second screen information is related to the secondapplication; the second application is executed in background while onlythe first screen information is displayed at the time the touch input isreceived; and the execution of the second application is immediatelyfollowed or preceded by the execution of the first application.
 17. Amobile terminal, comprising: a body having a front side and a lateralside; a display comprising a first area disposed on the front side ofthe body and a second area coupled to the first area and disposed on thelateral side; and is a controller configured to: cause the display todisplay first screen information associated with a function beingexecuted by the terminal in the first area; and cause the display todisplay second screen information associated with the first screeninformation at a first location of the first area in response to a firsttouch input received via the second area while the first screeninformation is displayed in the first area, the first screen informationdisplayed in a first orientation and the second information displayed ina second orientation that is different from the first orientation,wherein a size of the first location is determined based on a distancebetween a starting point of the first touch input and an end point ofthe first touch input.
 18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, wherein thesecond screen information corresponds to the first screen informationdisplayed in the second orientation.
 19. The mobile terminal of claim18, wherein the controller is further configured to analyse the firstscreen information in response to the first touch input to determine aportion of the first screen information to be included in the secondscreen information.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 18, wherein a firstportion of the second screen information, which includes same screeninformation that is also included in the first screen information, isdisplayed distinguishably from a second portion of the second screeninformation other than the first portion.
 21. The mobile terminal ofclaim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to cause thedisplay to display the second screen information with the first screeninformation in response to the first touch input such that the secondscreen information is displayed within the first location and the firstscreen information is displayed within a second location of the firstarea other than the first location.
 22. The mobile terminal of claim 21,wherein the controller is further configured to cause the display tomove the first screen information in the second location in response toa second touch input applied to the second screen information displayedin the first location such that a center of the moved first screeninformation in the second location corresponds to a point of the secondscreen information to which the second touch input is applied.
 23. Themobile terminal of claim 17, wherein: the second area comprises a firstsub-area disposed on a first lateral side of the body and a secondsub-area disposed on a second lateral side of the body; the first touchinput comprises a dragging from the starting point to the end point onat least the first sub-area or the second sub-area; and the controlleris further configured to cause the display to display the second screeninformation in the first location of the first area corresponding to thedragged distance.
 24. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein thedragging comprises a first dragging from the starting point to the endpoint on the first sub-area in a first direction and a second draggingfrom the starting point to the end point on the second sub-area in thefirst direction.
 25. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein thecontroller is further configured to determine a side of the firstlocation of the first area with respect to the second location of thefirst area based on a direction of the dragging such that the firstlocation is at a first side of the first area and the second location isat a second side of the first area if the direction of the dragging is afirst direction, and the first location is at the second side and thesecond location is at the first side if the direction of the dragging isa second direction that is an opposite direction of the first direction.26. The mobile terminal of claim 23, wherein: the controller is furtherconfigured to cause the display to display the first screen informationin the first location of the first area and to display the second screeninformation in a second location of the first area in response to asecond touch input received while the second screen information isdisplayed in the first location of the first area; and the second touchinput comprises a first dragging on the first sub-area in a firstdirection and a second dragging on the second sub-area in a seconddirection that is different from the first direction.
 27. The mobileterminal of claim 17, wherein the controller is further configured tocause the display to maintain a size of the first screen informationdisplayed in the first area such that only a portion of the first screeninformation corresponding to the first location is obscured by thesecond screen information.
 28. The mobile terminal of claim 17, furthercomprising: at least two cameras facing different directions, whereinthe controller is further configured to: cause the display to display afirst image obtained via a first camera facing a first direction; causethe display to display a second image obtained via a second camerafacing a second direction that is different from the first direction ona second location of the first area in response to a second touch inputreceived via the second area while the first image is displayed in thefirst area.
 29. The mobile terminal of claim 28, further comprising amemory, wherein the controller is further configured to: cause thedisplay to display the first image on a third location of the first areain response to the second touch input such that the first image and thesecond image are displayed together in the third location and the secondlocation, respectively; and cause storing of at least the first orsecond image in the memory in response to an input for capturing atleast the first or second image.
 30. The mobile terminal of claim 17,wherein the controller is further configured to cause the display tostop displaying the second screen information in response to a secondtouch input applied to the second area in a first direction that isopposite to a second direction of the first touch input, the secondtouch input received while both the first screen information and thesecond screen information are displayed in the first area.
 31. A methodof controlling a mobile terminal comprising a body and a display,wherein the display comprises a first area disposed on a front side ofthe body and a second area coupled to the first area and disposed on alateral side of the body, the method comprising: displaying first screeninformation associated with a function being executed by the terminal inthe first area of the display; and displaying second screen informationassociated with the first screen information at a first location of thefirst area in response to a touch input received via the second area,the touch input received while the first screen information is displayedin the first area, the first screen information displayed in a firstorientation, and the second information displayed in a secondorientation that is different from the first orientation, wherein aposition of the first location in the first area is determined based ona direction of the touch input applied to the second area.
 32. Themethod of claim 31, wherein a size of the first location is determinedbased on a distance between a starting point of the touch input and anend point of the touch input.
 33. The method of claim 31, wherein thesecond screen information corresponds to the first screen informationdisplayed in the second orientation.
 34. The method of claim 33, whereina first portion of the second screen information, which includes samescreen information that is also included in the first screeninformation, is displayed distinguishably from a second portion of thesecond screen information other than the first portion.
 35. The methodof claim 33, wherein: the second screen information is displayed withthe first screen information in response to the touch input such thatthe second screen information is displayed within the first location andthe first screen information is displayed within a second location ofthe first area other than the first location: and the first location andthe second location are arranged in a first order if the direction ofthe touch input is a first direction, and the first location and thesecond location are arranged in a second order that is different fromthe first order if the direction of the touch input is a seconddirection that is different from the first direction.
 36. The method ofclaim 34, wherein the second screen information is displayed,overlapping at least part of the first screen information.